


The End of all the Endings (Step into the Daylight)

by HamletMouse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Anal Sex, Bottom Lance (Voltron), Canon Compliant, Christmas, Crying After Sex, Drunk Hunk (Voltron), Drunk Lance (Voltron), Drunk Pidge (Voltron), Exploring family relationships, Family, Fluff, Fluff fluff and more fluff, Grief/Mourning, Keith and Lance are little shits, Keith is so in love, Kolivan is pretty much a stepdaddy, Lactose Intolerant Keith (Voltron), Lance is too, Lingerie, Loving Sex, M/M, Minor Acxa/Veronica (Voltron), Minor Curtis/Shiro (Voltron), Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Minor Kolivan/Krolia (Voltron), Pet Names, Romantic Fluff, Shiro's a little shit too, Soft Shiro (Voltron), Stress, Switching, Team Voltron Family, Top Keith (Voltron), Wedding Planning, Weddings, broganes, coran is extra, hunk is Done, keith is super sex-starved, minor mentions of anxiety and panic attacks, past allurance, post-season 8, romantic sex, sap, sexual fantasies, slight praise kink, so much crying, so much paladin love it will make you sick, the happy kind though..., this was supposed to be porn but there's more talking about sex than sex, wedding planning sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:07:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28244403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HamletMouse/pseuds/HamletMouse
Summary: "Keith didn’t care what the future held, what they had in store for them or even what the wedding would actually look like. He was going to marry this beautiful man, and nothing could ever bring them down from this high.And if, when he returned from the bathroom whilst Lance got ready for him in the bedroom, he came back to a shirtless, sleeping fiancé instead of one ready to ‘get down and dirty’; well it had been a long day... They had all the time in the world to have sex, one night without it was hardly a disaster."or 5 times Keith was cockblocked by his own wedding, and the one time he wasn't
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 152





	The End of all the Endings (Step into the Daylight)

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! The less said about this year the better so have 26k of Keith and Lance being in love and getting married. I've put this as E to be safe but it's probably in between M & E.
> 
> Wedding planning is stressful af y'all. Lots of love and thanks as always to Mimi whose wedding (as well as my own) provided the inspiration behind this and for all of your love and encouragement, especially this year xxxxxx

** The End of all the Endings (Step into the Daylight) **

_Or 5 times Keith was cockblocked by his own wedding and the 1 time he wasn’t._

**1~**

The sunset had never looked so beautiful to Keith.

This time he wasn’t sat atop the Black Lion; but Kosmo was still curled up beside him on one side, and Lance was sat on the other; a little taller, a little more mature but still his same old Lance. His tousled brown hair fell over his bright blue eyes as he dreamily watched the horizon glow over the desert sand. His eyes were watering slightly- whether he too was thinking about the first time they did this seven whole years ago or if he just had sand in his eyes, Keith didn’t know. All he could really think about was how Lance was still as beautiful as he was that god-awful day back in the castle, when Keith held him unconscious in his arms and realised- ‘Shit, I’ve got a crush.’

So much had happened since then- war, love, loss, and healing and nearly everything that could possibly come along with it. They had all been lost in their own way after Voltron ended, and in their hopelessness, they had rushed to find meaning in something, to find a purpose they could believe in again. And it took them all in separate directions at a time when they probably should have clung to each other and held on for dear life; when they should have gripped tight to one another’s hands and took the time to rest; to process what they had all been through.

But they ignored all of this and threw themselves deep into war relief efforts and had each found their niche. Keith couldn’t speak for everyone, but he himself had found the need to push on to make sure Allura’s sacrifice was not in vain. And he succeeded. He managed to use all those leadership skills Lance told him he really did have, to turn the Galra Empire around and set up a real honest-to-god democracy on Daibazaal. And then he was free to turn his attentions to those who had been harmed most by Zarkon; providing medical supplies and food to all the communities trying to rebuild. He knew the others had found their successes too.

Shiro had pushed himself into being an ambassador of Earth and the old Voltron coalition and he’d managed to promote peace all over the universe with Hunk at his side helping bring the universe together through food. Hunk had always been the most level-headed in his own way and he had definitely taken the healthiest approach to getting himself back on track; busying himself with his passions, confiding in Shay and his family, taking each day step by step until he became the master chef/democrat they all knew he could be. Shiro had pushed himself too far and had never taken the time to get over the horrors he’d suffered through his young life, but after a major breakdown and a lot of support from Keith, Hunk, the Holts, the Atlas crew and most importantly Curtis, he finally sought therapy and allowed himself to open his heart again and finally start acting his age. After all, in the long run, thirty-two was hardly old.

Pidge may have taken the unhealthy road of forcing herself to focus only on her projects, giving into insomnia and working on war efforts that were way beyond her years, but she was thankfully blessed with a loving family and a terrifying matriarch who ensured that her whole family had regular therapy sessions and took time to cultivate hobbies outside of the Garrison. So, whilst at first, they had all floundered, and forced themselves to occupy their minds away from the burning hole that Allura left in them, they had made it through, and had grown and healed in their own ways.

All except for Lance who had come out of the war the most broken of them all.

He secluded himself away claiming he needed time with his family and Keith didn’t doubt that he had good intentions at first; Lance’s family adored him, and they worked hard to keep him safe and sound and help him grieve. But Lance was good at nothing, if not putting on a brave face, and it took much too long before everyone was realising that he wasn’t healing the way he was pretending to be. Instead he was suffering in silence, blaming himself for Allura’s death, spending most of his time split between working his body too hard at the farm and visiting Coran to offer a shoulder to cry on in Altea. It was a long hard path; a long battle of persistent visits to the family farm from all of the previous paladins and Coran, of finding the balance between breaking down the new walls Lance had built and giving him space to mourn and grieve; to move on. But they’d persuaded him to come help with their efforts. He began increasing his talks to young kids on Altea, coming along to democratic visits on the Atlas with Hunk and Shiro to schmooze with new alien races, testing out Pidge’s latest projects and giving talks at the Garrison, and finally, coming along with Keith to help out with the Blade.

And Lance grew stronger and stronger and started to become more like himself. He began to smile the same way, make more silly jokes and he started letting himself fly and put his rusty skills to good use, splitting his time between the relief mission with Keith and maintaining that quiet peace back at home that he craved so badly. And though Lance had been scared, and Keith had tread so carefully, so cautiously; overcome with worry that he was pushing too hard or reading things wrong- one day, Lance had simply pulled Keith in and kissed him.

And Keith had never been happier, had never felt so content and loved and free. Which is why they had taken a moment out on a visit to the Garrison to drive out to the desert. It was why they were sat here now in that very same spot, hands clasped between them, the glow of the waning sunlight on their faces. And it was why there was a platinum ring burning a hole in Keith’s jacket pocket.

Keith tried to pretend his heart wasn’t trying to leap out of his body to crash and burn at the bottom of one of the nearby valleys but he couldn’t remember ever being more scared in his life and he had been in some downright terrifying situations. He had doubted himself so much over this decision. It had kept him up at night until it was all he could think about. But he’d checked in with Shiro about how he knew it was time to move on and get hitched to Curtis, and he’d checked what Hunk had thought about it; he’d even resorted to asking Veronica whether she thought Lance was really ready but through knowing smiles, and happy tears and hysterical laughter (thanks Veronica), he’d been given the go-ahead by all. And all he needed to do now was actually open his mouth and ask.

‘Do you…’ Keith started and suddenly stopped at the brashness of his own voice breaking the silence. Lance looked at him, one eyebrow raised, and Keith coughed to clear his voice. ‘Do you remember the last time we did this?’ And sadness flashed in those pretty blue eyes, but it wasn’t Keith’s intention to dwell on the sad things, so he stumbled on. ‘Like we were practically just kids back then, even though we were in a war. We were children, really weren’t we? Like we just seemed so much younger then…’ And yeah Keith didn’t really know where he was going with this, it all sounded so much better when he read it off his tablet back in his ship quarters. Judging by Lance’s still raised eyebrow, he didn’t really know what to make of it either.

‘You were much smoother back then too.’ Lance jabbed at him. ‘Do you remember how worried I was about that date with Allura? And you told me that she must like me if she wanted to date me? Even if it was annoying, stupid, Earth version of me?’ Keith smiled to himself. Yeah, he did remember that. He didn’t expect Lance to have memorised what he said though. ‘Then you said all that nice stuff about me being the red paladin, the one who’s always got your back and knows exactly what he’s got to offer? Because I remember all of that. It gave me the confidence I needed to tell Allura how I felt and to actually feel worthy of her.’

Keith turned to see Lance staring back at the sunset, his eyes soft as he remembered. Keith remembered all of that too. He’d known that Allura and Lance were going to be a thing by the way they had looked at each other. It had rankled him at first, because Allura had never shown faith in Lance when he was at his worst, not like Keith had. But there was a war going on and he’d known that Allura had maybe gotten to see Lance the way Keith did whilst Keith had been off with the Blade. And if they loved each other, who was he to step in? He just wanted to make sure Lance understood that at the end of the day, he and Allura were equals. She wouldn’t have fallen for him otherwise.

‘I liked you even back then you know?’ Keith murmured, a confession he’d never felt he could give before, but he needed Lance to understand where this all began for Keith, how long he had loved him for. Lance looked at him stunned; his pretty eyes wide in confusion.

‘Really? Back then? But you were so… encouraging…’ Keith laughed lightly.

‘Yeah. Well, my priorities were different back then. I was about to lead us into a war, I had more than enough to think about. I liked you before then even, but I didn’t really have the headspace to think about a relationship with anyone, let alone you; not when you were so set on Allura, a real -life princess, who liked you too. And why should I have got in the way of that? You’d chosen someone who cared for you like I did. I wanted you to be happy.’ This was more like what Keith had written down, he took a deep breath and let himself relax a little bit more, though it didn’t seem like his heart was really going to comply.

‘Keith…’ Lance spoke so quietly, and Keith saw the love he felt reflected back in those baby blues. Their love was a poppy growing on the battlefield, and they’d taken the darkest, most twisted path to get there but they’d found it eventually, and it was theirs. Just theirs

‘You made her so happy you know?’ Keith carried on and Lance smiled weakly. This was something Keith had had to convince Lance in many a dark night he’d spent crying in his arms. ‘And she made you happy. My feelings for you at that point were easy to brush aside just to see you both finding comfort when everything else was so hopeless. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it hurt but I don’t regret keeping it to myself back then. It wasn’t our time and, in the end, all I really wanted was for you to be happy.’

‘Jeez Keith, you still are a smooth motherfucker underneath it all aren’t you?’ Lance joked back, still not entirely used to having Keith tell him so bluntly how he felt.

Keith smiled weakly back at him.

‘I hope you still think that in a minute.’ Lance looked at him weirdly and made to open his mouth, so Keith pushed on. ‘But we’re older now, we’ve grown so much from that point and when you first told me you’d fallen for me…’ and Keith had to cough to keep too much emotion from seeping into his voice, goddammit this shit was hard.

‘I don’t think I’d ever felt so lucky. Lucky that not only had I found someone who made me happier than I’d ever imagined I could be, but also to be given the chance to be the one that made you happy.’ Keith reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black box as he positioned himself down on one knee, flicking it open. He saw recognition dawn on Lance’s face and he felt his heart stutter, in fear or love or glee, he wasn’t quite sure.

‘So if you’ll let me, I want to be the one to make you happy for the rest of our lives. Lance…’ Keith swallowed hard; this was it. ‘Will you marry me?’

There was a heartbeat of silence.

‘Yes.’

And Keith’s ears were ringing and making him hear things because it didn’t even really look like Lance had moved from where he sat still on the hill next to him, eyes still wide, mouth slightly open in shock, but then a massive grin overtook his beautiful, beautiful face and Keith could feel the anticipation reach boiling point. ‘Yes, you smooth motherfucker, yes, I’ll marry you.’ And before Keith got the chance to feel relieved; to let the tears building behind his eyes fall at last, Lance leapt at him and they went tumbling down the hill.

They rolled down the dusty mound for what seemed like forever before they crashed at the bottom, gripping each other’s arms hard, Keith landing with a crash on his back, Lance leaning over him, just about holding himself up. They stared for a second as they gained their bearings and then they burst into giggles, Lance leaning down to tuck his head against Keith’s neck, allowing Keith to do the same as they let all of the emotion of the last five minutes pour out of them in a way that was infinitely better than the crying Keith had expected to happen.

As they slowed down, Lance pulled away to look down at him, a tell-tale wetness in the corner of his eyes and Keith was once again blown away by this amazing man staring down at him. What had he ever done to deserve someone so awesome in his life? To have someone so full of life and ethereally beautiful to agree to marry him. Because he’d said yes. He’d said yes.

‘You said yes.’ Keith whispered as if saying it out loud would ruin what was obviously a perfect daydream and he would wake up back on the castle ship any minute, having been injured after a mission, maybe falling out of the healing pod, into Lance’s arms, still that awkward blushing eighteen year old denying he had a crush. But the smile that was returned to him was so sweet and calm and quiet, and so reflective of the older, more mature Lance he had gotten to know over the years, that he knew he could never have imagined it.

‘Yeah I did.’ Lance whispered back almost reverently, and Keith thought that the tears might actually be starting to make an appearance because how else could Lance look at Keith like that? How could he look at Keith like he was an angel crashed to Earth to answer all of his prayers? Did he not realise it was the other way around? ‘I love you.’ He whispered.

‘I love you too.’ Keith whispered back and still staring at those beautiful eyes, he leaned up to try and kiss Lance. But Lance slapped his chest.

‘So put that damn ring on my finger, jeez.’ Lance moaned but he still had that massive smile on his face. So Keith scrambled up and finally unclenched his fist where he had reflexively closed it tight the instance Lance pounced.

‘You’re lucky, I’ve still got it after all that.’ He grumbled but he didn’t really care. He was engaged to Lance. Lance was honest to God going to marry him. Nothing was going to dampen this mood today. He slipped it on Lance’s finger as Lance studied it carefully. It was plain Platinum, apart from a tiny K and L engraved on the inside and he really hoped it was fancy enough. Keith was hoping to get himself a matching one, not wanting just Lance to be able to show off that he was taken, and though Lance could probably pull off something flashier, Keith definitely could not. Eventually Lance looked up, a goofy grin on his face.

And then finally, _finally_ , Keith got his kiss.

&&&&&&&

In hindsight, Keith should have known that Veronica, Hunk (especially Hunk) and Shiro wouldn’t keep their mouths shut but still, was a surprise engagement party really necessary?

Keith had been pretty annoyed the minute they got back to the Garrison grounds to find nearly everyone they knew gathered outside to greet them, massive grins on their faces. He had kind of hoped that he and Lance could celebrate alone first and then get to tell their families face to face, sure that Lance would love the attention and the chance to tell the proposal story over and over again. But as he stood next to Lance watching him wave his shiny new ring at his cooing sister-in-laws with a smug grin on his face, he couldn’t find it in himself to be too pissed.

Besides, it was a pretty great feeling having everyone come shower them in congratulations and hugs and handshakes and shoulder claps. Lance’s Mom had come over and hugged them several times already, tearing up every time she saw Lance and Keith even look at each other and Coran had been just as bad. Plus, the Voltron crew had been super excited to have a reason to all be together in one place and had barely left each other’s sight. Frankly, Keith was just too happy to care.

‘So, guys, Lancey Lance.’ Hunk started, shifting from one foot to another. ‘Have you decided who’s going to be your best man? ‘Cause like you just got engaged and you’ve got lots of time. But you might have an idea, like a tiny inkling.’ Keith rolled his eyes at the unsubtlety of it all as Lance stopped admiring his ring to sip at his champagne in a faux confident pose that usually preceded some bad flirting.

‘Oh yeah man definitely.’ Lance agreed coolly, and Keith could practically see the hearts in Hunk’s eyes. Keith just focussed on drinking his champagne, knowing that he was soon to be surplus to whatever was about to happen.

‘Yeah?’ Hunk asked, almost hopping up and down.

‘Yeah. Kinkade’s a pretty cool guy…’ and Hunk immediately drooped.

‘Oh yeah. Cool, cool.’ He muttered. Keith looked to his left and shared an eye roll with Pidge. Only Hunk would actually have believed that.

‘Dude!’ Lance shouted offended, and shoulder-checked his best friend gently. ‘Hunk, look at me. It’s going to be you, dude… It’s always been you.’ Keith didn’t need to look at either of them to know that they were both tearing up at this point, he just swirled his champagne and waited for the moment to pass.

‘Oh man! Oh man!’ Hunk cried, and Keith could see a flurry of motion in his periphery and knew that a trademark Hunk bear hug was in progress. He finally raised his eyes to share another amused glance with Pidge, just in time to see her being wrapped up in a massive Hunk-arm to join his embrace with Lance.

‘Hey!’ She squeaked out. And Keith smothered a laugh into his drink. ‘What the hell?’

‘A lot of emotion over a simple question.’ Shiro’s voice suddenly appeared over Keith’s shoulder, just loud enough to be heard over Pidge’s complaints. Keith flicked his gaze up briefly to see the carefully blank expression on Shiro’s face and struggled not to roll his eyes once more.

‘Yeah. It’s kind of embarrassing.’ Keith said, raising his voice slightly so Shiro could hear him over Lance and Hunk swapping tearful “Bros” in the background.

‘Absolutely embarrassing. I’m sure whenever you ask your best man, _whoever_ that may be, you’d probably do it much cooler and calmer. Like, just a casual question at a party or something.’ Keith sighed. He’d been engaged for like two whole hours, surely they should have the chance to enjoy it before jumping into anything. But it wasn’t like he didn’t know who he was going to ask to be his best man so he resigned himself to it. He turned to lock eyes with Shiro and said as deadpan as he possibly could:

‘Shiro, will you be my best man?’…and then stared in horror as those cloudy gunmetal eyes teared up behind his glasses. ’No!’ Keith shouted in a panic. ‘No! I take it back; I take it back.’ But the damage was done and he was pulled into a tight hug that somehow managed to rival Hunk’s even with a floating arm.

‘Of course I will. I’m so proud of you both, I would be honoured to stand up there with you on your big day.’ Keith pat his back awkwardly. He was moved that Shiro was so emotional about it. In all honesty, they hadn’t managed to spend as much time with each other as they would have liked over the last few years with Keith out travelling with his relief efforts and all the time that Shiro spent piloting on the Atlas even if he had started to base himself on Earth more now that he’d married Curtis. But he’d already had his quota of hugs when they announced the engagement, and this level of outright affection from his older brother- _in public_ \- was just one step too far right now.

Thankfully, they were soon interrupted by Pidge making vomiting noises.

‘I’m so glad I’m a girl and don’t have to join in this sausage-fest of a wedding party.’ She scoffed as soon as she realised that she had everyone’s attention.

‘Actually…’ Lance butted in and everyone swivelled their heads to look at him. He blushed slightly and started to play with the hair at the nape of his neck ‘I mean we haven’t exactly had a chance to talk about it, but I was hoping to have a best woman as well?’ and he looked up at Keith as if he had an answer to the question. He’d honestly not had a chance to think about the aftermath yet, he’d been too caught up on the proposal and the happy ending to think about the ins and outs of it all.

‘Sure?’ Keith answered and Lance smiled warmly.

‘I was thinking of asking Veronica. You know, she’s… she’s just done a lot for me these last few years…’ and he trailed off, but Keith smiled back at him encouragingly. He knew the words Lance wasn’t saying. He knew that Veronica had been instrumental in building Lance all the way back up alongside the paladins and had even been the first to suggest he come along with the blade as she sometimes did to spend time with Acxa.

‘I think she’d love that.’ Keith told him earnestly. ‘I guess then…Katie?’ Pidge jumped and looked at him weirdly at the use of her given name, but he felt like it was right, right now. Maybe. His heart was starting to beat a bit faster again like it did before he asked Lance to marry him. Asking Shiro to be his best man was a given but he actually had no idea how well his next question would go down, yet he honestly couldn’t think of anyone else he would consider having by his side as he married the love of his life. ‘Would you be my woman of honour?’ He asked tentatively and held his breath. Pidge stared at him.

‘What?’ she breathed out. Keith felt his cheeks turn red and he struggled not to fidget on the spot.

‘I just… we’ve been through so much and you’re important to me and Lance, you know, I would really like to have you up there with me, and Shiro.’ He kind of half mumbled out, watching as Pidge continued to stare at him an unreadable expression on her face. And just as he was about to rescind the offer and suggest she could have another role if she’d rather, he understood that she was closer to Lance and all, and she didn’t need to worry about answering, when he saw tears well up in her eyes, and just how many times was this going to happen today?

‘Shit.’ She spat out and she rubbed at her eyes before walking away. Keith stared at her back, non-plussed. He turned back to an amused-looking Lance for reassurance.

‘Was that a yes?’ He asked, but his fiancé’s gaze was fixed on where Pidge had walked away and next thing Keith knew he was hit in the back by a skinny, female-like figure, leaving him thanking his reflexes once again as he immediately grabbed onto one of the legs twisting around his waist. A quick look at hands held tight around his neck confirmed that it was in fact Pidge gripping onto him like a koala.

‘Of course, it’s a yes you moron.’ She muttered into his hair and he felt relief sift through him like rain and gripped tighter onto her leg as if that could substitute a hug.

‘Thanks.’ He managed to answer. After a beat of silence, Lance came ambling over and wrapped his arms around the both of them.

‘Thanks Pidge, but I think you nearly gave my future hubby a heart attack.’ He teased and place an unnecessarily loud smooch on Keith’s cheek, making even Keith flinch away from it slightly.

‘Ew, stop that.’ Pidge unwrapped herself hastily from Keith’s back as if to run away again but it appeared that Lance and Hunk had gone full into big brother teasing mode, and he watched, his heart full, as his family bickered casually, tell-tale grins on all of their faces.

The rest of the evening passed in much the same way, being congratulated by what felt like everyone he had ever said more than two words to as well as some Garrison cadets he was sure he hadn’t actually met but probably knew Lance somehow. He had told so many people that he loved Lance _so much_ and was _so happy_ until it started to sound fake as he tried to regulate just how much he was willing to gush about his lover in his tiredness.

He’d finally found escape in a corner of the room with Shiro and a couple of blade members who weren’t likely to question him about what flowers they were using or if they had set a date yet, and instead were telling Shiro about their latest mission whilst Keith glazed over beside them, when Lance crept up behind him and shoved his face into Keith’s shoulder with a groan.

‘You ok there?’ Keith asked amused as Lance nuzzled deeper into the hardness of his jacket.

‘I want your face on my face.’ He slurred and Keith couldn’t help the bark of a laugh that escaped him.

‘I think most people call that kissing…’ Keith murmured affectionately, turning slightly to place a kiss on Lance’s head. Lance raised his head far enough to place a light kiss on Keith’s lips in response, leaving behind a satisfying sort of tingle that had Keith holding down a full body shudder, knowing he would never get over just how much he loved the feel of Lance’s hot mouth so close to his own.

He tried to turn to get a proper kiss out of Lance, but Lance held him still and placed his lips right against Keith’s ear so that Keith could feel the smirk against his skin.

‘I also want my cock in your ass.’ And yeah, there was that full-body shudder.

‘Lance…’ He almost whined, not able to even deny that the thought of Lance pounding him into the mattress right now sounded absolutely amazing.

‘I think we’ve done enough schmoozing, I want to get down and dirty with my **fiancé’** and Keith could only nod.

‘Yeah…Yeah let’s do that.’ And with one last peck, they excused themselves from the party with a quick explanation to Shiro that they were just so tired. Shiro sent them away with a wink and a promise to tell everyone where they’d gone.

And as Lance shoved him against the door of the Garrison apartment they’d been staying in and pressed his whole stupid-hot self flush against Keith’s body, Keith didn’t care what the future held, what they had in store for them or even what the wedding would actually look like. He was going to marry this beautiful man, and nothing could ever bring them down from this high.

And if, when he returned from the bathroom whilst Lance got ready for him in the bedroom, he came back to a shirtless, sleeping fiancé instead of one ready to ‘get down and dirty’; well it had been a long day, and he was more than happy to manoeuvre Lance under the covers and curl up next to him. They had all the time in the world to have sex, one night without it was hardly a disaster.

**2~**

A few weeks later and Keith was very nearly regretting his proposal. They didn’t need to have the whole big ceremony and reception with all their family and friends deal really. They could totally be that couple that were engaged forever, or they could just live together and grow old without all the legal stuff or elope in Hawaii or something. Anything but the hell he currently found himself in.

Except that, for all his upbringing was unconventional and not all that stable, he had a bit of a soft spot for the institution of marriage and the idea of declaring one’s love in front of everyone they knew and he knew it was super important to Lance. And he wanted his friends and his Mom to be there. And Lance’s mother would probably murder them if they didn’t have a proper ceremony and yeah, there was no real way of getting out of it.

So, he settled for groaning and letting his face fall onto the wedding magazines spread across their dining room table instead.

‘Why is this so hard?’ His lover whined beside him and Keith shifted so that he was cheek to table, to watch Lance pout adorably at the screen in front of him.

‘I really thought we just booked a place and stood up and said ‘I do’’ Keith said. Lance scoffed in return; his eyes trained to the tablet where he was flicking through various wedding website checklists in an effort to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. Keith honestly had thought it would be that simple. He hadn’t really known anyone get married except for Shiro and Curtis and neither of them had filled him in on just how much work went into planning it, and Keith was a best man. He just turned up to a suit fitting and did whatever Shiro told him to do on the day. But here they were reading articles and articles about themes and wedding favours and what to do to make your wedding day oh so special and unique.

He just wanted to marry Lance, wasn’t that special enough?

‘Of course, you would think that.’ Lance murmured still not taking his eyes off his screen. ‘Still, I didn’t realise there was this much involved. I was talking to Lisa the other day and she told me she could get us a discount on chair covers through her friend’s company.’ And it was this point where Lance finally turned to look at Keith, his hair curled and frizzy, falling in his eyes in a way Lance absolutely hated but didn’t seem too bothered to correct. ‘Chair covers! I didn’t even realise we needed chair covers!’

Keith frowned. He didn’t realise they needed chair covers either. He wasn’t even entirely sure what they were. He lazily reached for another magazine wondering if the pages could enlighten him any and was struck by the front cover where a beautiful, blonde bride wearing a simple white flowing gown, that he was sure still cost extortionate amounts, laughed faux-shyly as she swung a bouquet of lilies beside her.

‘At least we don’t have to worry about wedding dresses.’ He offered flicking the pages open. And then a thought occurred to him and he grabbed the tablet lying between them where Lance had been adding tasks to their planning spreadsheet. ‘Does that mean we can cross entrance song off the list? ‘Cause we’re both grooms right, so we won’t be doing the big walk down the aisle?’

‘Actually…’ Keith turned to look at him confused and a little apprehensive. Lance looked at him nervously for a second before he shook his head, finally pushed his curls out of his face and put the tablet down, turning his whole body to face Keith. ‘So, I know it’s like a sexist tradition, and women aren’t objects to be given away blah blah blah, but I kind of always thought that the walk down the aisle with your Dad was a really nice thing? I was kind of hoping I could have my Mom and Dad walk me down the aisle, not like to give me away, and not like I’m the bride or anything, but just to give their blessing? I know they’d love to be involved. Or is that stupid? It’s probably stupid. Don’t worry about it.’ And Lance shook his head, letting the rogue curl flop into his eyes again. Keith reached out a hand and brushed it away again.

‘That’s really sweet. Of course, we can do that.’ Keith reassured firmly. ‘Besides, it might be nice to ask my Mom to do the same thing. Include her a bit more, she’s really excited.’ And Lance blinded him with his smile.

‘Yeah? Yeah. That would be nice.’ And they gazed dopily at each other for a little while longer until Keith felt his teeth start to ache from all the sweetness. He pulled his hand away reluctantly and pulled the wedding magazine closer to him again, hearing Lance shift back into his old position as well.

‘You sounded so nervous you scared me. I thought you were going to suggest we did wear wedding dresses or something.’ He joked flipping past the annoying blonde on the cover once more.

‘You know we’d look fabulous, darling’ Lance answered distractedly, and Keith smiled slightly, turning to make notes on his own tablet.

‘And you’re sure about the date? It is quite close to Christmas.’

‘Yeah, it’s the only date the venue had for a year and a half, and I want to make sure Abuela can make it, you know her health’s not great.’ Keith nodded to himself.

‘And you’re sure about the venue?’

‘Yup.’ Lance paused. ‘If you are? I thought you loved it. Did you love it?’

‘Yeah, Lance calm down.’ Keith answered without looking up. He did love the venue. He didn’t really know what to expect when Lance talked about a venue, but he really did like it.

There was a beautiful converted barn about an hour away from the Garrison where Hunk’s sister had gotten married and Lance had completely fallen in love with it. Keith had fallen in love with it too. It was just a barn really- rustic and nostalgic, with beautiful fields of flowers. In all honesty, it wasn’t too different from the McClain family farm but when Keith mentioned it, Lance made a face and said that he wanted his nearest and dearest to have fun and let loose, and therefore did not want someone drinking too much champagne and throwing up in the chicken house for his mother to clean up…which was completely fair. ‘I love it. I guess…’

‘You guess what?’

‘I guess, I just always imagined you getting married on a beach in the summer, wearing like, I don’t know, a white suit and the sea in the background…’ with a beautiful, beach-blonde surfer girl not unlike this stupid model in this stupid magazine…Keith finished the thought in his own head.

Lance just seemed so unsure sometimes when they talked about the wedding, he almost felt like he was forcing him into some things. Like getting married on the 22nd of December when Christmas was a really big deal to Lance and his family and Lance was such a summer child; he lived to feel the sun on his face and to be surrounded by crashing waves and beautiful white sand as far as the eye could see. He deserved to have that. And Keith hoped he hadn’t railroaded Lance into marrying him, into doing it too quickly.

Yes, Lance was very concerned about his Abuela not making it; her health had deteriorated severely when Lance had been whisked into space by a flying blue lion and it had gotten even worse with Sendak taking over Earth. But she was hanging in there and Keith knew she was absolutely thrilled to see her favourite grandson get married (and yes, those were her own words, the other McClain kids just rolled their eyes, so it obviously wasn’t a secret.)

The guilt Lance had built in himself over the years succeeding Voltron had taken a hell of a time to undo, and his insecurity still reared its head in such random times that it often took Keith by surprise. And with all of this, Keith was often surprised by his own insecurities and uncertainty. He’d spent so long being the rock for Lance that he forgot to look after himself and to remember that he needed that love and reassurance too. But he didn’t want his anxiety- or Lance’s- to get in the way of their wedding. He fidgeted in his seat, hoping Lance didn’t pick up on his anxiousness too much.

‘I did when I was younger.’ Lance answered. ‘I imagined myself on Varadero beach with a beautiful girl, preferably a model, blonde and beachy, kind of like that girl on the magazine you keep glaring at.’ Keith flushed and saw a smirk twitching at Lance’s lips. ‘But now that this is actually happening? Honestly, I just want to marry you. Somewhere pretty, somewhere with family- but at the end of the day if you’re there? I couldn’t care less.’

And Keith felt his insides turn soft, all of his bones and organs were just absolutely mush and all he could do was stare at his soppy romantic man who always knew how to make things better and make his anxiety fly right out the window like a bee trapped inside desperate to be free.

‘Besides you look fucking hot in burgundy and that would just look silly on a beach.’ Keith smiled at him and leaned forward for a kiss, but Lance seemed to have other ideas. ‘And if there’s anything I love more than the beach it’s Christmas! We could have a Christmas tree, and fake snow, and glitter like everywhere.’ Keith tugged on his sleeve like a petulant child. He was sick of all this wedding planning; he wanted his damn kiss. What was it with his own wedding keeping him away from the kisses he deserved? He wanted to complain and interrupt Lance’s ramblings when he looked up and saw that familiar dark glimmer in his eyes that sent a shudder right through his body.

He was being teased.

‘And I could kiss you under mistletoe…’ Lance murmured lowly, before, finally leaning forwards, keeping his lips just that tiny sliver away so that Keith’s lips tingled with anticipation. And then Lance closed the gap, and the kiss was so sweet, so loving, he needed more. He needed to feel Lance’s body on top of his, or beneath him, around him, inside him, anything at all to ground him, to keep him here when he felt like his head was trying to float right off of his shoulders.

So Keith reached out and put one hand on Lance’s face, one on his waist and pulled, just so slightly, as he increased the pressure with his mouth, and guided him, backwards to their new royal blue sofa they’d bought a mere three months ago when they decided they wanted to move into one of the unused buildings on the farm land, and no longer live in an annexe with the main family. And he fell back into the soft cushion below, bringing a surprised Lance tumbling on top of him, squawking into Keith’s mouth. But Keith grabbed tight, not letting Lance pull away, and Lance melted into him, licking across Keith’s bottom lip for entrance, moving himself into a better position to lay between Keith’s legs.

Keith sank deep into the sofa below and revelled in Lance’s gentle touches as they made out like teenagers. Ever since Lance had said yes, there was this extra pulsing excitement every time they looked at each other- and by the secret little smile Lance would flash him back, he assumed that Lance felt the same. But whilst this thrumming beat distracted him to no end, they had very little time to act on it.

Farm work was hard and whilst Lance adored it all, hard physical labour in the Cuban heat was unrelenting and took a lot out of him, meaning he often returned to the house in need of food, shower and bed. Keith had also been on a humanitarian mission without Lance for the two weeks since they’d gotten home from the Garrison. What time they had found to spend together was taken up with wedding planning. Once they found out the only date the venue had was December, they decided yeah, they could pull a wedding together in three months’ time. They’d strategized a near-apocalyptic war after all, how hard could organising a big party really be?

All in all, Keith was horny. He was marrying the love of his life and whilst they’d managed a quickie in the days following the proposal; with family and friends all over the place, they’d found themselves catching up with other people more than each other.

But Lance was here, in Keith’s arms, kissing him like he was starving for it, his hands sliding underneath Keith’s shirt to run his hands across his chest, breath hot and heavy across his face. Keith grabbed at his ass, pulling their pelvises together and gasping as he felt Lance’s clothed erection pushing against his own. He rolled his hips up to make more friction, enjoying Lance’s low groan and all he could think about was how he was going to make love to him, right here on this sofa and he was going to take his time as he did it. He was going to kiss and touch every single part of him he could reach, make him feel as loved and desired as Keith felt right now.

Lance leaned back on his haunches and tore off his old grey t-shirt, yanking Keith’s off too as he moved forward to reconnect their lips, one hand in Keith’s hair, the other sneaking down to unbutton his jeans. Keith returned one hand to Lance’s ass, the other pulling at the hair at the back of his neck, trying desperately to feel those bare chiselled abs press right up against his.

Lance had finally gotten Keith’s jeans undone and was toying with the waistband of his boxers, sliding his fingertips so close to where Keith’s cock was twitching in its confines, desperate to feel those long, talented fingers wrap around him and get some relief from all of the pressure building up in his chest and stomach. He needed to get Lance completely naked and wrapped around him; to achieve the intimacy he had been so badly craving since he heard that ‘yes’ in the dying light of the desert. Lance’s hands breached his boxers and were sliding torturous and slow, down, down…

Until a jaunty pop song permeated Keith’s Neanderthal brain.

Lance’s phone was ringing.

Lance pulled his hand out in shock at the noise and balanced himself precariously on one hand as he shifted to pull his phone out of his jeans pocket. He hung up without looking at the screen and chucked it on the floor.

Keith would have liked to pretend that he cared about whoever had tried to interrupt them, but with a beautiful god of a man placing slow sensual kisses on his neck slowly moving himself down, how could he really? He closed his eyes to really let himself feel the sensation of hot lips on bare skin and the anticipation of headier pleasure to come.

And then the phone rang again.

Lance paused in his tracks and Keith’s eyes shot open. They looked dolefully at each other. Lance flopped himself down on Keith’s stomach, ignoring his ‘Oomph’ of surprise and groaned, as he stretched himself awkwardly to pick up the phone where he threw it.

Lance looked at the screen and then up at Keith apologetically and Keith hated that his heart sank a little.

‘It’s Coran. He’s not stopped ringing with suggestions of how to make the wedding more Altean since we asked him to do the ceremony. I mean don’t know how he’s expecting to find us a dead Klanmuirl foot or where he expects us to put it and I am not wearing a string of sausages around my neck again…’ Lance let out a huge world-weary sigh as the phone cut out. ‘Basically, I don’t think he’s going to stop calling until I answer him.’

Keith forced himself to smile as the phone rang once more.

‘It’s fine. He’s just excited.’ Lance gave him a sad smile back as he pulled himself away, yanking his t-shirt back on.

‘Yeah. Maybe we should get someone else to do the ceremony though. It’s a bit much sometimes.’ The music stopped from his phone, and Lance looked down at the screen, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

Keith could for sure agree that Coran was too much sometimes. But people had said the same about Lance before.

Coran always doted on Lance more than the others and Keith knew that Lance was often more patient with Coran when he went off on some outlandish story that almost definitely wasn’t true. Coran had been protective, naturally, when Lance had started dating Allura, but Keith had seen Coran smile to himself more than once when he saw them together and he knew that Coran actually had high hopes for the two of them. Coran saw both of them as family and Keith felt a little pang knowing that Coran had probably hoped they would be each other’s happy ending; that he would one day be walking Allura up the aisle on her wedding day to Lance. Or whatever Alteans actually did on their wedding day- the Klanmuirl foot didn’t give Keith much confidence that American and Altean traditions were at all similar.

But Coran had been nothing but supportive of their relationship when they finally plucked up the courage to fly out to Altea and tell him. There had only been a small attempt at a shovel talk aimed at Keith and a few comments interrogating them on whether they had followed proper Earth protocol in their courting, which Lance had been quick to assure them they had. (Had they? Keith had to admit he wasn’t exactly an expert in that subject.) After that it had been hugs and tears and Keith had seen a weight lift off of Lance’s shoulders he hadn’t even noticed was there.

Despite his enthusiasm for jumping into their relationship, Lance had been more hesitant in telling anyone else in case they felt he was moving on from Allura too quickly. In reality, they had received knowing looks and congratulations from pretty much everyone they knew. But Lance had definitely seemed more confident once they had their blessing from Coran.

Keith also loved Coran despite his eccentricities, and he couldn’t lie and say that Coran’s approval hadn’t been a huge relief to him as well. He was worried that Coran wouldn’t think Keith was enough for Lance; wasn’t as good enough as Allura. But before they had left, Coran insisted on dramatic teary hugs goodbye for the both of them and he had whispered in Keith’s ear a thank you for making Lance smile again. How could Keith not feel worthy after that?

Keith smiled at Lance a bit more genuinely as he thought on it. There had been a reason they asked Coran to conduct the ceremony after all.

‘You love Coran way too much to replace him.’ Lance’s eyes matched his smile this time.

‘Yeah.’ The phone began ringing again and Lance rolled his eyes overdramatically as he answered. ‘Coran, my man. What’s up?’

Keith understood but he couldn’t help but sigh as he adjusted himself in his boxers, acknowledging Lance’s apologetic smile as he wandered into the kitchen to carry on his conversation with Coran.

He supposed he should find his own communicator and call his mother.

**3~**

Keith sat awkwardly in his mother’s quarters as he always did when he visited her base in Dai’ba Zaal. You don’t generally spend two years with someone on a giant space whale and not feel comfortable with them in weird situations but being here always felt different to Keith.

When they were on the whale they always had a mission and an aim. He had travelled with his mother lots of times since then, and she’d come to visit him at the Garrison, she’d even come with Kolivan before. And it was special, and he felt loved and valued, and he loved his mother dearly.

However there was something awfully uncanny about sitting in his mother’s kitchen area in the bunker that she shared with Kolivan.

Krolia never said much about her relationship with Kolivan; she hadn’t even outright told him that it was happening. But it was pretty obvious from the moment she came to visit him in the hospital ward at the Garrison that there was some _tension_ there. Not to mention that they were living in a two bedroom bunker; Keith was staying in the second room and there was no sign whatsoever that either of them slept in it.

And it was just a little bit too weird.

Keith had only really just adapted to having a parental figure in his life that wasn’t Shiro and was just getting the hang of being a son again so late in his life. It was hard to add another person like that so soon. Because in some sort of way Kolivan was a father-like figure to him; someone he looked up to, someone who guided and taught him, who cared about him in his own unique stiff and serious way.

But this little bunker was nothing short of homely.

Keith knew that at some point his mother and father must have had some semblance of domesticity. He’d had a small look into it in the flashes of his mother’s memories in the abyss, watching his parents cuddling and feeding their newborn like any other new parents would. He knew his mother loved him and she had loved his father and meeting her had answered so many questions about his heritage he never knew the answer to. But reconciling the strong blade member he’d met with a young lover, a young parent, a suburban Mom with a clean, tidy, cosy home. The kind of mother that Lance had… was hard.

And yet, she had the home of one. She had a comfortable, clean place with Kolivan, the perfect mix between tidy and lived-in; practicality and personality. They had set up a home together and it was unnerving for some reason. He’d never had that homeliness with Krolia and sitting at her kitchen table, drinking tea, with her flicking through his wedding planner, making mundane comments on how nice everything was and asking questions about flowers and cake like it was a perfectly normal thing to do, had him feeling like he’d stepped into another reality.

He was at least thankful that Kolivan was working in the study. He didn’t think his brain could compute discussing his wedding plans with his fearless ex-leader. In all fairness, he wasn’t the best at event planning and the wedding was so far out of his comfort zone already. He’d had enough trouble going over the plans with Shiro. Keith knew he should be talking about the giving away thing, but he had no real idea where to begin.

Keith spared a look over at his mother, who was gazing intently at the page where they’d mapped out a timeline of the day. She seemed to feel his eyes on her as she drew back slightly to meet his eyes.

‘You seem to have done a good job at planning this. Are there any Earth customs I should know about the ceremony? I’m afraid your father and I never really discussed marriage.’ Krolia broke the heavy silence. Keith blinked before realising that this was his in to talk about the ceremony.

‘Yeah, actually. There is something I wanted to talk to you about.’ And though it was often hard to tell with his mother, he could have sworn she brightened up just a little bit. ‘So in a straight marriage, there’s a tradition where the bride gets given away by their father. It’s a kind of throwback to when women were still considered property, but obviously not now. But some people still like to do it to uphold tradition, which is you know, really important to Lance.’ Keith tried to explain as best he could though he’d only ever really seen the practice on television; the only wedding he’d actually gone to had been another gay one. Krolia nodded to show she understood so far.

‘And as there are no brides, how will this tradition take place?’ She asked seriously. And Keith could feel his face heat up. This was supposed to be an emotional thing, right? He’d never really been that way with her and he wasn’t sure what her reaction would be. Would she not think it a big deal? Or the opposite, would be she be happy and emotional and how was he supposed to deal with that?

‘We kind of thought, we’d honour the tradition as, like, a blessing. So a blessing from people who are important, to show that they approve of us, and so offer up a blessing.’ Keith paused. ‘I’m saying blessing too much, am I making any sense? But anyway, we thought we’d like to use some form of that tradition.’ Krolia smiled at him softly, her lips crooked up just a little. She reached across to touch Keith’s hand.

‘It’s ok Keith, I understand.’ And Keith relaxed just a little bit. ‘You would like someone important to you to perform a ceremonial blessing of you and Lance as a couple.’ Keith smiled easily.

‘Yeah, that’s exactly right.’ A bit formal, but Keith was glad that she understood where he was coming from. Krolia smiled easily back.

‘I have an idea.’ Keith’s smile wavered. He’d seen stories on the wedding forums he and Lance had been trawling through about interfering parents but he’d never imagined that would be an issue with Krolia.

‘Oh, well we already have an id…’ Keith started but Krolia had also risen from her seat and was heading towards the bedroom.

‘Kolivan.’ She called and Keith felt the tiniest tendril of panic as Kolivan appeared almost immediately in the bedroom doorway, his bright yellow eyes trained on where Keith still sat at the kitchen table. ‘I believe Keith would like you to perform the Galran marriage blessing on his blade at his wedding.’ And before Keith could even think about what to say to that, Kolivan took several strides over to his seat to place his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

‘I would be honoured to, Keith.’ Kolivan intoned solemnly. ‘I was gratified to hear the news that you and the Red paladin decided to officially declare each other as life partners. You two are particularly suited to each other.’ Keith just stared. Whilst the tone of Kolivan’s voice barely changed, the content was certainly more emotional than Keith had previously heard from him, perhaps with the exception of when they had just rescued him from Macidus’s clutches and he discovered the extent of the blade’s destruction. And it was over a request that he actually had nothing to do with.

‘Actually, we were just going to… Lance and I were thinking… we’d quite like to be walked down the aisle, even though we’re not brides. Lance wanted to have a blessing from his parents and I agreed that it would be really nice to do that…’ and shit he was rambling again. He moved his gaze from Kolivan’s vaguely confused glower to his mother’s surprised face.

‘Mom, I would really be honoured if you would walk me down the aisle and give me away to Lance.’ Krolia stared for a second before her face softened and Keith thought for a horrifying second that she might actually cry. Thankfully, she seemed to swallow it down and settled for smiling at him, widely, brightly, reaching over to grasp his hands between hers.

‘I would love to, Keith.’ And she seemed so sincere, Keith felt his own chest tighten and he had to cough to dislodge that lump in his throat. As if understanding that perhaps Keith was feeling more emotion than he was letting on, Krolia walked around to Keith’s side of the table and pulled him up into an embrace. Keith leant into her warmth, letting her cradle his head as if he were a young child. And then she whispered, ‘I’m just glad I get to witness some of the important parts of your life.’ And Keith held on tighter, maybe letting a couple of tears seep from beneath his eyelids. He wasn’t sure how long they clung to each other; Keith was more than happy to linger in a moment with his mother that was happy for once, but soon enough a gentle clearing of a throat came from behind them.

Keith drew back slightly, to peer around at his ex-commander. He nodded towards the pair and spoke in his slow formal voice.

‘Congratulations Krolia. I am happy for you both. Apologies Keith for interrupting your moment with your mother. I shall return to my work and let you talk.’ He made as if to move, but Keith couldn’t help but feel a twisting guilt in his chest at leaving things like this with him. Kolivan had genuinely seemed pleased to be asked to be a part of his wedding, and he had been a mentor to Keith and obviously meant a lot to his mother. He was also kind of like his stepfather, now right? As awkward as calling him that felt to him, it kind of meant that he deserved to be a part of Keith’s day.

‘Wait, Kolivan.’ He called just as Kolivan was about to leave the room. ‘We… We were also talking about incorporating some of my Galra heritage into the ceremony. I would really like to hear more about the blade blessing if you’re willing.’ Kolivan stopped, almost hesitant, before stepping closer.

‘Of course.’ He nodded seriously. ‘The blade blessing is an ancient Galra custom that existed long before even Zarkon. It is simply a list of rites recited over an esteemed warrior’s weapon to honour the union, to wish fertility and victory throughout the wedded couple’s future but mostly as a blessing from a higher authority that they approve of their underling’s choice and wish them nothing but happiness and love.’ Kolivan paused to bow slightly. ‘As former black paladin, and in light of your endeavours since the end of the war, I can no longer assume to be your commanding officer but as previous leader of the Blade of Marmora, I, and I believe Krolia, believed it would be appropriate were I to be the one to perform the ceremony.’

Keith was almost speechless. He and Lance had discussed incorporating some more Galra into their ceremony, but to be honest, they had kind of assumed most Galra culture would be too violent or cold for human tastes. But this blade-blessing thing sounded almost perfect.

‘Kolivan, I would like you to perform the blade blessing at our ceremony if you’re still willing.’ He spoke authoritatively, though a lump of emotion was still lodged uncomfortably in his throat. Kolivan nodded simply.

‘As I said before, I would be most honoured to perform the ceremony to celebrate your marriage to the red paladin.’ Keith grinned at him in relief that it was a simple acceptance and no further commentary that could make the lump in throat dissolve into real tears.

‘Thank you Kolivan.’ He flicked his gaze over to his mother before returning to look at Kolivan. ‘And please don’t feel like you need to hide yourself away. I would… I would like it, if we could spend some time together, all three of us.’ Keith did his best to maintain eye contact and he thought he saw an actual smile on Kolivan’s face.

‘I would like that very much.’ Kolivan answered formally and maybe it was hard to see it, but Keith liked to think he’d built a bridge to being open to a new kind of relationship with Kolivan; one that was starting to look a bit more like family. Perhaps this was best seen in the way his mother looked at Kolivan, soft and loving, and just that little bit encouraging suggesting that maybe this had been a bigger roadblock for Kolivan than he had let on. It must be quite the adjustment go from a BAMF-commander in a war to an almost-stepfather to a human boy and Keith guessed he owed it to both of them to be a bit more welcoming regardless of how unsure he still felt about it all.

As it was the evening passed fairly quickly and Keith found himself relaxing much more than he had thought he would, actually enjoying himself as they talked long into the night. Sure there was probably a lot more shop talk than Lance would probably approve of for an evening off but Keith was sure that he would be proud of him for making leaps and bounds in his relationships today.

And as Keith thought that, he suddenly wondered if it would be too late to call Lance and check in. Krolia and Kolivan turned in fairly early and it wasn’t really that late. Keith quickly finished getting himself ready for bed, finally pulling on a slightly larger night shirt to sleep in with his boxers and flung himself on the bed, pulling out his communicator.

Years of conducting a long-distance relationship over god-knows how much distance in space had taught Keith how to translate the time difference between Daibaza’al and Cuba almost instantly and unless his mind had failed him, it should only be about ten pm for Lance still. Maybe he’d catch him just getting into bed, skin all soft and smooth from his nightly regime, eyes all droopy and sleepy, his body pliable and relaxed as he prepared himself for sleep. If Keith were there, maybe they’d get to share some kisses. He could start with Lance’s mouth, gently, softly, pulling his lower lip into his mouth and biting it just a little bit the way Lance loved, and then he could move down to that smooth caramel neck and feel his pulse beneath his lips as he nipped his way down to those broad shoulders, only wider and more developed since he started working at the farm, and he could pause to suck at his nipples, earning himself that adorable squeak Lance made sometimes when he was surprised… and yeah Keith needed to call him right now.

He brought Lance’s number up on his communicator and paused for a second. He was feeling fairly frustrated lately about the amount of time he was getting to spend with Lance. They still hadn’t found time to do much except share a few lazy kisses. They were either working or else they were wedding planning or entertaining various friends and family members who seemed intent on visiting a lot more since they got engaged. It was more than likely that if he got through to Lance, that their conversation would degenerate into phone sex, and was Keith really that hard up that he wanted to do that in his mother’s house when Kolivan and Krolia were trying to sleep mere meters away? Keith hesitated for all of a second before he decided that yes, actually he was that hard up and he pressed the video call button eagerly.

It only took a few rings before his call was answered and Lance’s beautiful, beautiful face appeared.

‘Keith!’ Lance shouted enthusiastically and Keith frantically scrambled to turn the volume down on the call, lest he attract his mother’s attention.

‘Lance.’ He answered back, unable to stop the soppy smile spreading across his own face as he watched Lance grinning back at him. He too was dressed in an over-large shirt ready to go to sleep, and his eyes were droopy and sleepy… and actually maybe just a little bit too droopy and sleepy. Keith frowned. ‘Are you alri…’ but before Keith could get the sentence out Lance was interrupting him.

‘It’s Keith!!! It’s Keith!!! Isn’t he pretty?!’ Lance shouted, wobbling the communicator as he tried to focus on the screen.

‘Lance… are you drunk?’ He asked, not entirely sure whether to remain concerned or be amused.

‘He sure is.’ And suddenly he was bombarded with big amber eyes surrounded by massive frames.

‘Pidge?’ He questioned and she pulled the phone back and set it straight so that Keith had a fuller picture of what was going on. His fiancé was curled up in bed with a bowl of popcorn on his lap, and to his left was Pidge holding the phone up, sat in her bright green lion pyjamas, hair in messy braids, and to Lance’s right was Hunk, a red solo cup in hand and green goop spread all over his face. And Keith’s cheeks started to ache with how wide his smile was now. Lance seemed so happy and relaxed cushioned in between his best friends, super chill in his drunkenness. Keith’s chest felt so full he didn’t know how to cope with it. Lance would tell him that he had swapped his real boner for a heart boner. And as much as Keith loved Lance with all his heart, he was hating himself just a little bit for thinking that.

‘Keith! It’s been a while dude, how’s it going?’ Hunk shouted in a way that was definitely not sober. Keith laughed.

‘I’m good. And you guys? You just decided to take a break from your busy life-saving schedules to get my fiancé drunk?’ Pidge smirked at him.

‘Pretty much. You guys aren’t having bachelor parties, are you? Hunk was gonna be stopping on Earth anyway and Lance has been texting us about how bored he is ‘cause you’re not there, so thought we’d stop by with some booze and here we are.’ She explained proudly.

‘Don’t worry, Hunk fed me too.’ Lance told him so earnestly that Keith laughed again.

‘Sounds fun. Sorry to have missed you guys. What have you been up to?’ and they ended up talking until the early hours of the morning, Keith smiling way too much as he listened to them explain their evening, constantly getting distracted by inane things and going on long tipsy rants about things like food goo and Matt’s new haircut.

It wasn’t until they had finally all said goodnight and Keith had huddled up in bed grinning to himself in the dark, that he realised he had been cockblocked once again.

4~

There’s nothing quite as stark a reminder that you’re getting married than staring at yourself in a fancy tuxedo in a changing room mirror.

It was one of those moments in life where you have to pinch yourself and think ‘wow, I really am a grown-up, aren’t I?’ and not a stupid sixteen year old who thought they knew it all. Sixteen-year old Keith never would have expected to be standing where he was standing now; in a sleek black suit with a burgundy cravat and waistcoat that fit almost perfectly, getting ready to marry that weedy, annoying but kind of cute cargo pilot in his class. Keith never thought he would be the kind to get married. Endless one-night stands, sure. Keith’s romantic and sexual history may not be vast, but he had a libido damnit. But the cosy, sitting in an armchair in a winter night talking about bills kind of relationship? Never seemed his style. Yet here he was, planning this extravagant party where he was about to declare that he wanted to do this kind of stuff with Lance, and only Lance, forever more.

It was definitely a ‘pinch me’ moment.

Thankfully, he heard a shout of laughter from outside the changing room and he realised he was supposed to be showing his outfit to the six people who had decided they absolutely needed to be here to see him in his suit (only three of which, he’d actually invited).

With another quick check that he did in fact look like an adult and not a kid trying on his father’s clothes, he exited the changing room to face his critics.

He walked out to the main shop and the chatter died. He looked across at the staring faces, not really used to the attention and not wanting to draw any more to himself. Why were they all here again? He only really needed Shiro and Pidge. In an act of impulse on discovering his mother would be coming in on the Atlas too, he had invited her along. That was a normal mother-son thing to do right? But there was no reason for Romelle to have tagged along and definitely no reason for Veronica to come and absolutely no reason on earth she should have brought her girlfriend with her.

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him and nodded approvingly.

‘You actually look alright.’ She shattered the silence. And the others immediately reacted as if waiting permission to let him know what they were all thinking. His mother’s face softened into a bittersweet smile, Romelle clapped her hand to her mouth overdramatically whilst Veronica and Shiro just grinned. Only Acxa remained staring at him impassively.

Shiro stepped forward, his grin slightly crooked as he reached forward to straighten Keith’s cravat.

‘You look great, Keith.’ He murmured, an audible crack to his voice.

‘No more crying Shiro, please.’ Pidge interrupted with a sigh.

‘Ugh, yeah, I’ve had enough of that from my mother. Save the sentimental stuff for the actual wedding please.’ Veronica agreed. Shiro let out a tiny sigh and turned to face Veronica.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be Lance’s best woman? Why are you even here?’

‘Lance just wanted me to check it all looked ok.’ She said.

‘He wants you to spy on Keith you mean?’ Pidge interjected. Keith kind of felt he should address that, because, hey? It was a bit insulting. If Lance was so worried about what they were wearing they could have bought them together, but Lance said he trusted Keith and they’d both agreed on the colour scheme. How wrong could you go with a black suit, white shirt and burgundy accessories? He didn’t need to be spied on. Lance knew he hated too much attention. However, Romelle intervened before he could say anything.

‘You do look very handsome Keith; Lance is going to be falling all over himself when he sees you.’ Keith blushed at the unexpected compliment, imagining for the first time standing in front of Lance in front of everyone, Lance looking gorgeous in navy blue, his blue eyes shimmering from his beautiful tanned face and Keith suddenly felt very lucky and very undeserving all at once. He also fought the urge to run back to the changing room to double check that he did look okay, that his body, still toned, more muscular than before, looked so through the thickness of the suit; that the colour did in fact bring out his eyes and that he did look like a man ready to sweep his husband off his feet rather than a dithering boy who didn’t even know how to look after himself. Keith had no idea how to get his skin to look as luminous and radiant as Lance’s did even as he worked hard in the sun all day, sweat dripping down his forehead onto his chiselled body, glistening and glowing in the sunlight…

God, Keith needed to get laid.

The others didn’t seem to notice his sudden panic and instead smiled at him indulgently. Keith felt his heart feel full. He almost opened his mouth to say something mushy, something he felt like doing embarrassingly often lately. But he was surrounded by people he cared about, so if this wasn’t the moment when was?

‘Now let’s talk about underwear.’ Romelle said.

Moment ruined.

‘No!’ Keith shouted, anger covering his mortification. ‘Why would we need to talk about underwear?’ He could hear Pidge cackling somewhere to his right but he didn’t dare look around, focussing solely on Romelle, ignoring the searing red he felt spreading across his cheeks.

Romelle looked at him like he was stupid.

‘Shay and I were doing some research on Earth wedding customs, because, quite frankly, we have no idea what’s going on and Hunk keeps getting so excited, it’s hard to keep up.’

‘Ok?’

‘Anyway, it seems it’s a long-honoured tradition to wear nice underwear and throw a garter into the crowd, except I’ve not heard anyone talk about it yet so maybe we should as we are stood in a clothing store.’

Keith gaped at her a while. He really didn’t want to talk about underwear with anyone currently in attendance and it was very clear that Romelle and Shay had gotten confused by whatever Earth wedding websites they’d managed to access out in the middle of space. On the other hand, he hadn’t thought at all about underwear. Surely a nice pair of black boxers (or maybe boxer briefs, the wedding pants were fairly tight) would suffice though?

‘That’s usually a tradition for brides, Romelle.’ Veronica cut in kindly. Keith shot her a thankful look at the attempt to change the subject but Romelle’s face still look unimpressed.

‘Well, yes, we did realise that but we didn’t think you and Lance were that strict in your gender roles and we did find some truly exquisite sets.’ She paused to stare at Keith’s impassive face as he tried desperately to think of a way to get out of the discussion. Eventually they stared each other out and Romelle sighed. ‘I guess I’ll have to see if I could tempt Lance into buying some.’

And ok that’s an idea. He couldn’t lie… the thought of peeling Lance out of a tight lacy thong to fuck him senseless was… yeah, it was doing things to him.

‘Yeah…do that…’ He whispered dreamily.

‘Ugh. You could at least take off the rental suit before popping a boner.’

Keith shot out of his daydream at the sound of Pidge’s voice, looking down at himself without processing he was even doing it. As soon as he realised, that he did not in fact have a boner, he registered the snickers from Pidge and Shiro as he came back to himself fully. He felt his cheeks warm again but he pushed through it.

‘Can we maybe not discuss this in front of my Mom?’ Keith whined desperately. He really had thought he would just try on his tux, get it approved and be done with it; a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of deal. Instead it seemed that Romelle was intent on turning this into an opportunity to see just how deep a red Keith’s face could get.

Romelle rolled her eyes and flung her arms up in exasperation.

‘I didn’t expect you all to be so prudish. Why is this such a sensitive issue?’ and God Keith was tired. Part of him wanted to defend himself; with some of the things he and Lance got up to in the bedroom, he didn’t think it was fair to label them as prudes. But some things were best kept private. And again, he was here with his mother, and had very nearly popped a boner in front of his family and friends and really could Romelle just be quiet now? ‘Having read up on it, I just think it’s good manners. Shiro, didn’t you wear nice underwear for Curtis on your wedding night?’

At least Keith now knew how deep a red Shiro’s face could get.

‘Um… well… I mean it wasn’t old underwear…’ Shiro started, obviously not expecting the attention to be turned on him. Keith didn’t really know whether he should be enjoying the rare opportunity to see Shiro acting like a fish out of water or be completely grossed out that Shiro was even attempting an answer. Thankfully, he seemed to think better of it and instead did the champion-like thing of running away. ‘Actually, talking about me, I should really get my tux on now.’ And he disappeared back into the changing cubicle. Keith stared after him, battling between wanting to laugh or cringe at the person he considered a brother and in the corner of his eye, he saw his Mom step towards Romelle. She laid a kind but quelling hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

‘Romelle. Whilst Lance and Keith are fairly open with their relationship, and yes, they are very willing to shirk traditional gender roles, issues of a sexual nature are generally considered a private matter for humans, particularly around family members.’ Keith relaxed a little knowing that Romelle tended to listen to his mother’s authority a bit more than his, but he was once again torn between relief that his mother had settled the argument and disgust at hearing his mother use the word ‘sexual’ to describe his relationship with Lance. He really didn’t want her thinking of their relationship in that way. ‘I recall one such incident with Keith’s father…’ and yeah, Keith didn’t want to think about his Mom and Dad in that way either. Disgust won and he quickly blurted out that he should get changed too before legging it to the cubicle.

He normally loved hearing his Mom talk about her time with his Dad- slowly filling in the missing pieces of his past he had yearned for, for so long- but he definitely didn’t think he needed to hear that particular anecdote. Keith quickly shucked off his wedding clothes, hanging them up so they wouldn’t crease just like Lance drilled into him over five years plus of dating, and pulled on his jeans and t-shirt.

Thankfully by the time he emerged the conversation had moved on to what flowers they were having and what the best women would be wearing (Juniberries and tuxes from another store respectively) and he could join in safely.

When Shiro finally emerged in his wedding outfit, bashful and insecure, the ladies took their cue to coo over how handsome he looked, and assure him that, despite Lance’s space Dad jokes, his hair didn’t make him look more like the father of the groom than the best man, he wasn’t really that old, until Keith saw the time and broke in saying it was about time he settled the bill with the assistant. (Shiro actually ended up settling the bill for him, saying that it was the least he could do for his little brother and Keith ended up blushing once again, though thankfully for a much more wholesome reason) and soon enough he was free to make his way home.

As everyone was gathering their things and saying casual goodbyes, he was struck by an idea, a slightly mean idea but an idea, nonetheless. Lance was actually coming back to this shop in about an hours’ time for his own suit fitting appointment. Veronica, Acxa and Romelle were planning on being there and were currently deciding on where to get some lunch whilst they waited. Having just put up with the most awkward suit fitting ever when he only really wanted Pidge and his Mom to be there, he figured that maybe he should give Lance a dose of his own medicine…

He gave a little wave to try and get Pidge’s attention as she chatted away to Shiro and she turned to stare at him blankly. He made a series of jerky movements to where Veronica and co. seemed to finally be making their way out of the shop. She grinned and Keith knew she’d got it.

‘Hey, Veronica. Do you mind if I come along to lunch? It would be nice to see Lance in his suit too.’ Pidge asked oh so innocently. Veronica stared her down, raising one eyebrow. Pidge continued to grin up at her, neither giving way. Eventually she let out a loud sigh and shrugged.

‘Sure. Why not? Would you like to come too Krolia?’ Keith’s Mom looked surprised at being asked but soon agreed and the girls were on their way.

Keith took a second to bask in his victory before Shiro clasped his shoulder firmly.

‘Despite all the years I’ve known you both; I don’t think I will ever understand your relationship.’ Shiro sighed. Keith could hear the smile undermining his words though. So he just shrugged.

‘Probably best not to think too hard about it.’ Shiro laughed and then dragged him off to his car.

And so Keith had come home and showered and was slumped on the sofa in his favourite black sweatpants waiting for his dearly beloved to return home to him. He had meant to turn the TV on or something but he was feeling so comfy, he’d simply thrown his head back against the back of the couch and had just stayed there. He must have dozed off for at least a little bit because it seemed like no time had passed before the front door was clicking open.

Keith craned his neck to the doorway but he could hear Lance faffing around in the kitchen before he poked a weary head into the living room. And the first thing Keith noticed was big beautiful eyes shining with intent. Murderous intent.

The next thing he noticed was the black bags beneath those eyes and then the frazzled locks of hair starting to curl around Lance’s ears. And the teensiest bit of guilt started to creep in. Maybe he didn’t need to make anything harder for Lance at the moment. But then again… Lance started it. He swallowed down any doubts and shot what he hoped was an innocent smile in his lover’s direction.

‘Hey.’

‘Don’t you hey me!’ And Lance stormed into the room, letting Keith get a better look as Lance stood in front of him, arms crossed. His face was obviously not as beautiful as it was when he was happy and relaxed but Keith held a special spot for that little fire in his eyes when he was annoyed at Keith. Not too annoyed obviously, Keith never liked it when they argued properly- who does like doing that with their partner? But just a little bit annoyed, like when they were first paladins and they argued over everything. There was something strangely alluring about his indignant scowl and pouty lower lip that Keith just wanted to bite. Lance has slipped out of his jacket and was just dressed in a navy V-neck t-shirt and his teeny tiny black skinny jeans that hugged his thighs in just the best way.

And yes, Keith was still very _very_ thirsty for his fiancé. He hoped that he hadn’t pissed Lance off to the point that sex wasn’t on the table for the night. Tonight was one of the few nights where they wouldn’t have guests over helping with planning or just dropping in to say hi and he was desperate to get this boy into bed. He looked so sexy scowling down at him with his hair in disarray, those thick, built arms- even more defined since Lance started the farm- on show thanks to his tight shirt, and Keith wondered whether he had pissed Lance off enough for him to be in control tonight.

They did like to switch quite often and neither were too settled in specific roles in the bedroom but when Lance was in a bad mood, he seemed to prefer to top, to get Keith ready and willing beneath him and just take out his frustrations on Keith’s body and it was…. Well it was pretty awesome. And Keith would love it if tonight were one of those nights. If Lance just dragged him up into a kiss and pushed him to their room and just did what he wanted to Keith, those strong arms and abs flexing as he fucked Keith so hard that all he could do was hang on and take it. Yeah, Keith was starving for this body and he wanted it closer.

He reached his arms out to Lance and made a grabby motion with his hands, but Lance was unmoved.

‘You. Suck.’ Lance growled out and Keith smiled sheepishly.

‘Not yet, but I’d like to.’ And he wriggled his eyebrows in an attempt to emulate Lance, though he still wasn’t the best at flirting. Lord knows how he actually managed to get Lance into bed over and over again. Lance remained stern but Keith liked to think he saw a little twitch at the corner of Lance’s mouth. They stared in deadlock for a little while longer, Keith smiling hopefully and Lance still doing his best to frown.

‘Ugh.’ He moaned out as if he was about to do something terribly strenuous before he walked forward and flung himself in Keith’s lap, straddling him on the sofa. ‘You look stupid doing that.’ He bit out and Keith smiled wider as he immediately laid his hands on Lance’s small toned waist, relishing the hard warmth beneath his fingers.

‘You love me anyway.’ Keith murmured leaning forward. Lance let out a heavy sigh but he took the bait and leaned forward to press a quick hard kiss on Keith’s lips.

‘Yeah for some reason. Just why, Keith??’ He whined, leaning his head on the back of the couch by Keith’s ear. ‘I already had my mom, and Abuela, and Lisa and my sisters, I really didn’t need Pidge, Krolia and Romelle.’

‘You did it first. Did you really need to send a spy on me? And I didn’t send Romelle. I thought you invited her.’ Lance lifted his face to look at Keith and continued to whine.

‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t send her to yours either, I just asked Veronica to go.’ Keith sighed this time. It would make sense that Romelle invited herself. She was, of course, a good friend to both of them but she didn’t have a set role in the wedding and Keith guessed that she wanted to be a bit more involved. Maybe they could have her do a reading or something?

‘Yeah, well Veronica brought Acxa and it was awkward. I work with her.’

‘Well, she came to mine too. At least you know her pretty well, I’m pretty sure she hates me for stealing away her mullet man.’ Keith rolled his eyes and Lance pointed an accusing finger in his face. ‘Say what you like, she wouldn’t stop glaring at me the whole time.’

Obviously, Keith had heard the rumours about him and Acxa and he maybe would have believed she had feelings for him back when she saved them from Zethrid’s warship that time, mostly because Zethrid and Ezor seemed to think so. But it seemed really clear to him that once she met Veronica on the Atlas that she had eyes for no one else. In fact Keith had been there from the beginning of their very awkward relationship, listening to her talk about tan skin and wide eyes and why were they so overwhelming and man, could Keith relate. But there still had been a chasm between her and Lance where they never seemed to mesh or talk or anything really. Keith didn’t think it had anything to do with any lingering feelings towards him though.

More, he felt that it was Acxa being unsure how to act around someone so important to both her girlfriend and her close friend/boss. She and Lance were forced to spend quite a lot of time together by default and Acxa had never really cared about how she came across before but ingratiating yourself with those you care about’s loved ones was a necessary human trait and Keith knew she had no idea how to act around Lance and instead seemed to freeze. He also felt that Lance had a part to play in it as well. Lance was still not particularly great at dealing with people who didn’t immediately warm to him and seemed to take it as some sort of slight that he and Acxa hadn’t become friends pretty much as soon as she started dating his sister. Lance had tried, Keith had seen it, and he’d tried again as soon as he started accompanying the Blade on missions. But Acxa continued to freeze up and Lance continued to make up explanations for why his charm hadn’t worked on her.

Keith had tried to explain it, but Lance just looked at him with disbelieving eyes and would tell Keith that he simply didn’t understand the effect he had on people. And Keith would just let it go because at least they weren’t at each other’s throats.

‘You know she’s head over heels for your sister, I bet she was just awkward.’ Lance shot him that same disbelieving look.

‘Doesn’t mean she’s not hot for mullet too, even if she wouldn’t act on it.’ Keith rolled his eyes ready to retort but Lance interrupted him with an adorable peck to his nose. ‘Anyway…’ Lance started sounding too purposefully casual. ‘I wasn’t spying on you. I just wanted a report on how my soon-to-hubby was looking.’ Lance smouldered at him in a way that Keith quite often made fun of, but right now, was falling hard for.

Lance shifted forward and his lips were so close to Keith’s, it wouldn’t take a millimeter for Keith to close the gap, but right now he was enjoying the anticipation; the tingling on his lips and the tickle of Lance’s breath so close to his, the build up to something awesome and familiar, the heat building in his stomach… He began running his hands up and down Lance’s waist watching carefully as Lance did his best not to squirm or move closer.

‘Yeah?’ Keith asked lowly. ‘And what was the outcome?’ He could feel Lance smirk against his mouth, as his eyes too stuck on the dark blue gorgeousness in front of him to look down.

‘That I’m marrying one sexy son of a bitch.’ Keith groaned and lunged forward pulling those lips into a sweet kiss. Lance didn’t let it stay that way though, hands soon coming up to rest in Keith’s hair, freeing it of its ponytail, opening his mouth and letting Keith slip his tongue in to explore, their mouths moving hot and dirty against each other. Keith gave in completely to his own desires and gripped harshly at Lance’s amazing ass, pulling them closer together, feeling Lance’s half hard cock through his tight jeans, swallowing Lance’s groan. And Keith let go of the idea of Lance topping tonight, because all of a sudden he wanted it to be him.

He wanted to take Lance just like this, to have him ride his cock as he moaned and whimpered into his mouth, to feel that tight heat take him in over and over again, sloppy and filthy and desperate right here on the sofa. And maybe if it got too much for Lance to keep going, he’d roll them over, and pull Lance’s gorgeous legs over his shoulders and just fuck him until he couldn’t make any noise at all, until he was too caught up in sensation to take in air. He wanted to shove him down and give it to him hard and fast until they both came so hard they collapsed against each other.

Although there was something slow and sluggish about Lance’s movements as though he wanted it badly but was struggling to keep up. So maybe they could take it slower, Keith could pick him up, just like this. Grip his butt hard and let Lance wrap his legs around his waist and take him to the bedroom, drop him on the bed and pamper the hell out of him. He could peel off his clothes bit by bit and kiss every inch of the flawless tan skin, he could take his time running his hands all over that body until Lance was boneless against the bed, he could suck on his nipples in that way that gets Lance trying to push him away and pull him in at the same time, or take each of his balls in his mouth in turn and suck, and taste every little bit of him, he could build them both up until there was nothing left to do but make love to Lance until they came together. Either way was good, any way was good, as long as Keith got to feel that body against his and make Lance cry in pleasure.

Keith pulled away slightly to make one suggestion or another, but Lance, instead of chasing the kiss like he normally would, let out a long breath and pressed his forehead against the sofa behind Keith. Keith looked down at him from the corner of his eye and melted. His cock was still hard as hell but Lance obviously needed a little break. Looked like it was a slow and steady kind of night.

‘I’m guessing those weren’t the exact words used by your sister?’ Keith asked, thinking maybe a bit more conversation would do Lance good. Lance moved his head so that he was now leaning with one cheek on Keith’s shoulder and looked up at him confused. After a beat, his face relaxed into a slight smile.

‘No, but they were Romelle’s and then she had to backtrack with Krolia.’ Keith smiled slightly at the image even as Lance’s small smile fell slightly. ‘She kept talking about the wedding night, it was super awkward in front of my family. She kept loud whispering, I think she thought she was being subtle but Rachel found it hilarious and I’m pretty sure my Mom was just pretending she didn’t hear.’

‘Yeah she did similar to me, did she give you the Lingerie talk too?’ Keith began stroking Lance’s hair as best he could at the weird angle they were at but at his words, Lance’s head shot up and he gave him a weird look.

‘Lingerie?’ Keith groaned. Obviously, Romelle had learnt something from their conversation about suitable things to talk about. He recalled the whole conversation with Lance wearily as Lance watched him, a smile pulling at his lips, even as his forehead remained wrinkled in a frown.

‘And then I just went and got changed; I really don’t want to know that much about my dad you know?’ Keith finished up. Lance stared back at him sleepily, with that look on his face that said that he just found whatever Keith had said adorable.

‘Yeah, I’d have noped out of that conversation too.’ Lance lifted his arms in a casual stretch and Keith watched with interest suddenly remembering what they had been doing moments before. He stared for a second and then reached out to pull him close. Only for Lance to shift off his lap entirely.

‘Anyway, I’m going to take a shower.’ Lance informed him nonchalantly and Keith couldn’t help the little whimper of surprise he let out. He’d been so close, what happened.

‘But…’ Lance looked at him tiredly. ‘I thought we were going to… y’know.’ He tried not to sound like a petulant child, honestly he did. But Lance still looked so adorable and he was already missing the warmth from his lap.

Lance sent him a half-smile.

‘Yeah, talking about our family and friends and lingerie isn’t great pillow talk, dude.’ Keith pouted as he felt a sinking sensation in his chest. They were going to finally have amazing, mind-blowing sex and he ruined it all by talking too much. It wasn’t fair.

‘I can be sexy again, I promise.’ Keith whined almost against his own will. Lance smiled at him fully this time and leaned over him.

‘I know you can Babe.’ And he kissed him on the forehead, which didn’t really make Keith feel very sexy. ‘But to be honest, I feel really tired and gross and headache-y. We went back to Hunk’s afterwards and there was just so much planning talk. I think Mama’s freaking out a little bit. She kept flicking from thing to thing and worrying about the strangest things like whether people will get lost at the venue and we still haven’t chosen a flower girl dress, which they’re insisting is my decision though I told Lisa to just pick something that will suit Nadia and does it really freaking matter what kind of socks I’m wearing?’ Keith stood up quickly recognising the warning signs that Lance was freaking out hard and pulled him in against his chest. ‘I’m just beat.’ Lance finished, sagging fully against Keith who held him close and rubbed his back.

‘It’s ok, Lance, you’re home now, we can just relax tonight. No wedding talk.’ Keith soothed. Lance nodded, still buried against his chest, his arms hanging down. He felt Lance taking deep breaths against his chest, and he seemed to be doing it quite well so Keith hoped they’d averted a full on panic attack. That was the last thing Lance needed and he knew Lance had been feeling inklings of them coming lately. He just kept shushing him and stroking his back like he was a baby he needed to get to sleep. It usually seemed to help though. Eventually Lance seemed able to pull back.

‘On the plus side, as I was too busy answering questions to eat, Hunk sent me home with doggy bags.’ And the result of spending years in Voltron with Hunk’s cooking reared its head as Keith’s stomach immediately grumbled in response and saliva filled his mouth. He didn’t even need to know what Hunk cooked; he just knew he had to eat it soon. Lance flung him a knowing grin. ‘Want to heat it up whilst I have a quick shower?’ Keith nodded gratefully and with a quick kiss Lance was sloping off towards the bathroom.

Keith stretched and meandered into the kitchen and started pulling plates and cutlery out before hunting down the doggy bags in the fridge and sticking the food in the microwave. Whilst he waited he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Pidge. After all, what’s the point in having a spy if you don’t collect on the intel?

It wasn’t long before he received a ping of a message back.

**PIDGE:**

**It was a good thing you weren’t there.**

Keith frowned at his screen. That wasn’t exactly the answer he’d expected. Before he could reply though, his phone was pinging with another message.

**PIDGE:**

**Didn’t need you popping another boner in front of your Mom** **😉**

Keith sighed sending off a perfunctory ‘fuck you’ and tried not to fantasise about Lance in formal wear. If Lance felt better after eating, they could maybe have another try at some nice gentle relaxing sex, maybe whilst spooning, but he didn’t really want to get his hopes up when it could be another night in the shower with his right hand. It seemed more often than not lately that they would come in and eat, do some wedding planning and drag themselves off to bed just as they’re about to fall asleep on the couch. They still cuddled up each night but sexual intimacy was just that little bit out of reach.

Lance came down in his comfiest pjs just as Keith finished plating up the food and he dropped gratefully into a chair. Keith shoved some painkillers and a glass of water in his direction before they dug into their meal. They didn’t talk too much, too engrossed in the awesomeness that was Hunk’s cooking. They could obviously fend for themselves at this point and whilst neither of them were awful in the kitchen in the way that some of their friends were (Cough cough Shiro), neither of them had a particular passion for cooking the way Hunk did and it showed.

Keith tried to talk about things that had nothing to do with the wedding and Lance answered as best he could, cracking bad jokes and flirting with Keith as much as normal. But throughout the meal his face remained slightly scrunched in pain and the frown never really left and Keith knew that the painkillers hadn’t done too much to alleviate the headache.

So when they finally put down their knife and fork for the night (they may have had seconds… or thirds), Keith quickly shooed him off to bed. Lance put up a fight for all of 5 seconds before thanking Keith and kissing him goodnight.

Keith washed up quickly not particularly being a fan of hanging around by himself in an evening, normally choosing to follow Lance straight to bed whenever he went. It was still only nine-thirty though and Keith wasn’t remotely tired.

He knew that Lance hadn’t been sleeping very much though and he’d quite often caught him staring at the photo of him and Allura on that first date all those years ago. They had both tried to take on an equal role in the wedding planning, both having physically demanding jobs and such a short time to get it all done, it was stressful for both of them. However, when Keith went to work, he was away and he was working with aliens. Whilst the girls liked to tease him about being whipped or roll their eyes whenever he so much as mentioned Lance, they weren’t all that interested in the ins and outs of the wedding day.

However, Lance worked with his family and saw his mother every day. Though well-meaning and really just very excited at the first wedding in the family since Marco got married way before Keith even knew Lance existed, Lance’s family had a habit of being overbearing and very involved in every little thing. Today was obviously no exception.

Keith knew that as much as Lance adored having his family around, it was times like this where the impact of the war made itself painfully obvious. A younger Lance would have adored having his whole family’s attention on him, especially for something as ostentatious as a wedding. But now after all of the pain and guilt and nightmares, sometimes it was just too… much.

He knew that it pained Lance to have his family obsess over the minutiae of life, over something so simple as the lining of his suit jacket when his life used to be more; have more meaning. When he was preoccupied with thoughts of the battles they nearly lost, of the lives of peoples that were lost to the empire because they just couldn’t get there quick enough. It was bittersweet that Lance’s crowning glory was an achievement drenched in death and destruction and loss. And it was these times when Lance’s anxiety came out stronger than his love for attention. The days of carefree bragging came and went with the carelessness one would normally expect for boys in late teens and what was left was someone who was still Lance at his core, but also someone who had grown up way too fast and was more concerned with finding peace for himself, and others, than victory and fame.

It also didn’t help, he knew, that whenever he got too deep into the wedding planning with his mother, that she would occasionally grab his cheeks in both of her hands, tears in her eyes and proclaim, ‘I’m just so glad you’ve finally found someone who makes you happy.’ because although Lance loved him more than Keith could ever truly attempt to fathom. Lance had, of course, already found someone that made him happy. And had lost them.

Keith knew that it hurt Lance that people viewed Keith as his happy ending, as his light at the end of a long tunnel. Keith was a light in his life for sure, but lance had told him that he was a guiding light, gently leading Lance through the darkest of times, loving him strong and quiet by his side. And when the lighter times came, Keith was still there guiding him through, keeping him going, his love still as strong, but ten times as loud.

And so Keith was not a new beginning to Lance because he had always been there. Their relationship was perhaps a new chapter in his story, a new phase of his life. Hopefully one that was happier than the previous, but it was part of a longer story with twists and bumps and happy bits in between.

And Lance would never say anything to anyone in his family except Veronica because he couldn’t face the look on his mother’s face if she thought he was still mourning over Allura. No one in the family seemed to understand that the loss never leaves you. You move on, of course. And Lance had done a great job in moving on. He had finally found the balance in honouring her memory and getting on with his life. But careless comments reminded him of the happiness that he had once had, and that this happiness he had now could be taken from him at any moment.

If Keith had any say in it at all, this would be the end of all the endings, the end of loss and mourning and losing those close to you; the end of goodbye and rejection and pining. But there was only so much control he had; he couldn’t control what might happen to either of them, all he could really do was love Lance as hard as he could and make the choice to love him and let himself be loved in return and do all he possibly could to keep Lance happy. And come hell or high water that was what he was going to do.

With that in mind, he walked purposefully into the living room and turned on his tablet. He opened his internet browser and googled ‘flower girl dresses.’

He may not have had the earth-shattering, mind-blowingly awesome sex he had hoped for when he woke up this morning, but if he could take at least a little bit of the wedding burden off his fiancé’s shoulders, he would be satisfied.

**5~**

After that, Lance seemed to be full of headaches and panic attacks which left Keith wondering how many Lance was hiding before then. It wasn’t necessarily that he hid them from Keith on purpose, he’d just gotten used to dealing with it himself and Keith couldn’t help but feel guilty. He took as much of the burden from Lance as he could, but the wedding was approaching rapidly and soon they were both up to their eyeballs in stress, struggling to remember why they wanted to do this in the first place. Or at least why they thought they could plan a wedding in three months.

They barely had time to speak to each other about non-wedding related things let alone try and have sex, and the few times Keith tried to initiate again, Lance would pull away and say he was exhausted, though he always said it with a groan and a hard-on as raging as Keith’s, so Keith was confident enough that the frustration was equal on both sides.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t only their sex life that was suffering, they’d also let some big wedding things slip through the net. Two weeks before they were due to get married and after an excited question from Hunk, they realised they’d somehow forgotten the cake. Hunk had pursed his lips and said he’d see what he could do. And he must’ve managed to pull some strings because here they were, in the number one cake shop in town, sat on cute little wicker chairs surrounded by plates and plates of cake slices.

Keith stared at them all, overwhelmed and rubbed at his eyes. He turned to see Lance looking at the table in front of them eyes wide and dead. Hunk had promised to help them but as soon as he got chatting with the owner, he’d been whisked away to look at the kitchen set-up. How it would be any different than any other kitchen set-up, was beyond Keith and now it looked like he and Lance were going to have to choose their own wedding cake.

He honestly could not care less.

‘I am so bored.’ Lance monotoned beside him. Keith nodded, fighting the urge to just let his head fall all the way down to the table and take a nap right there in the bakery. Lance leaned into him, snuggling his head into his neck and Keith rested his head on top of Lance’s.

‘Do you know what else we need to do today?’ Keith thought hard and shook his head. All the wedding tasks were added to his phone weeks ago and he got a reminder about an hour before he had to do anything. He’d given up planning his own day or trying to have his own autonomy. He belonged to the wedding now.

‘Nothing.’ Lance whispered like it was a secret. ‘Absolutely nothing. If we didn’t have cake we could be y’know, doing the Do.’ And he leaned up and did that stupid eyebrow waggle that Keith hated to find sexy. It was almost distracting enough for him to miss the point which was that if they didn’t have to do this cake testing they could be at home doing…

‘Oh.’ He realised and stared at Lance wide-eyed. Lance nodded slowly in return. Keith let out a groan and surveyed the masses and masses of cake laid before them on the table.

Lance poked the first piece of cake in front of him and Keith might have laughed at his sudden disdain for it, if he wasn’t preoccupied with trying to find a reason they could leave without pissing Hunk off.

‘How quick do you think we can do this?’ 

‘I don’t think there’s a way we can eat this much cake that quickly.’ Keith frowned and Lance tutted.

‘What happened to your impulsivity, Mullet-love?’ Lanced grinned cheekily ‘I bet I can eat all my samples before you eat yours.’ Keith rolled his eyes.

‘Seriously Lance? We’re not kids any more, I’m not going to…’ But Lance was already halfway through his first slice of cake and as old and mature as Keith liked to think they’d gotten; he still hadn’t found a way to tame that stupid competitive streak in him that only Lance could ignite. Without even registering that he was giving in, Keith reached forward and started stuffing cake into his mouth.

Thankfully, growing up in overcrowded children’s homes meant that Keith was no slouch when it came to eating quick. Unfortunately, Lance had also grown up with five older siblings and the instinct to eat fast or go without was strong in him too. This meant that they were pretty much neck and neck for the first few slices and had to resort to dirty tactics.

Lance succumbed first; stealthily shoving his elbow into Keith’s side making him spill the cake from his fork. Keith elbowed back, of course, and soon they were shoving each other, trying desperately to get the other to drop their respective cakes. Adrenalin was pumping and frosting was going everywhere and Keith could focus on nothing except eating as much cake as was humanly possible.

At some point along the way Lance started giggling, loud and hysterical. Sparing a glance at his lover’s handsome, chiselled jaw covered in frosting, Keith was helpless to resist and soon it was all he could do to keep the cake actually inside his mouth and not spit it everywhere.

Keith was so high on stress and exhaustion; he could barely remember why he was even here eating cake in the first place.

Until he looked up and saw Hunk glaring down at them.

‘Hey, what are you guys doing?’ He asked. It would seem normal, casual Hunk, if you couldn’t see the slight twitch in his lips that meant he was seconds from losing it.

Keith tried to swallow his humongous mouthful of cake to answer but Lance beat him to it.

‘Eating cake?’ Hunk sighed,

‘You couldn’t wait for me?’

Keith finally managed to swallow.

‘You were gone for quite a while.’ Keith added.

It was the wrong thing to say.

‘So you just started stuffing your face? I can’t believe you guys, I put a lot of effort into…’ and yeah ok, Keith kind of figured he deserved a little bit of a telling off, but he was way too tired to listen to the ins and outs of how they’d fucked up. This wedding stuff really had him beat, besides, it hadn’t been that long since he came back from a mission and space travel isn’t exactly easy on the body. He turned to see if Lance was faring better, and to be fair he did seem to be paying attention to what Hunk was saying, though he didn’t seem particularly impressed. His eyes were trained on Hunk, but he had one eyebrow raised and he had that cute little pouty lip he always got when he felt like he’d been wronged, and Keith found himself wondering how annoyed Hunk would be if he just leaned over and kissed that pout away.

‘Keith!’ He snapped out of his daydream to see Hunk was still pissed, unsurprisingly. ‘I’m totally thrilled that you think the sun shines out of my best friend’s ass, but can you listen for just a second?’

Keith flushed at being caught but Lance just winked at him. And turned back to Hunk with a serious look on his face.

‘Hunk. We are sorry. We are. But we are so tired and you just left us here doing nothing. Honestly, we don’t need to be here, dude, we trust your judgment.’ Hunk still looked unimpressed. Keith was honestly so tired he’d lost track of what was going on really.

‘Really? Even if I chose cheesecake for the whole thing?’ Ok, Keith tuned into that. He did not need his lactose intolerance rearing its disgusting head on his wedding day. He scanned the table for the offending slice but he couldn’t see any obvious cheesecake anywhere.

‘Cheesecake?’ he questioned. Hunk also scanned the table and sighed like a long-suffering parent.

‘Did you actually eat the cheesecake Keith? How fast were you guys even eating?’

‘Why was there even cheesecake on the table?’ Lance screeched flinging his arms wide in indignance, before folding his arms tight to his chest and swinging back on his chair. ‘Shouldn’t all the cake be lactose-free?’ Hunk groaned.

‘There are several layers to a wedding cake plus you can have more than one cake so you can have plenty of cake for Keith and plenty for everyone else. You could even have cupcakes or macarons or…’

Lance forced his chair back firmly and flung his head down on the table.

‘No, Hunk, No.’ He whined ‘That’s too many decisions. We’re decisioned out. We’re stressed, and we’re tired, please have mercy.’ Keith looked up hopefully at Hunk and thankfully he saw his stern gaze soften just a little.

‘Fine. Just have a basic three layer cake. I’ll choose one layer, you guys choose the others, fair?’ Keith and Lance looked at each other and nodded. That seemed easy enough. Keith looked at the selection and saw his favourite cake in front of him. Grinning he reached forward and held it up.

‘I choose Red Velvet’ and he took a satisfied bite. Then Hunk snatched it from his hands.

‘Yeah that’s not lactose-free buttercream. You should really read the allergen labels’ Hunk took a bite out of it instead.

‘But why?’ Keith whined. Lance elbowed him harshly.

‘Put some effort into it, Mullet man, you can’t just choose red because you were the red paladin.’ Keith frowned.

‘That’s not why. I love red velvet. It’s my favourite. Anyway you were the red paladin too.’ He argued.

‘But there’s so much choice Keith.’ Lance answered with a bite of sarcasm as he did a voila motion with his hands at the mountains and mountains of cake still remaining.

‘You’re just bitter there’s no obvious blue choice.’

‘No, I’m not!’ Lance spluttered. ‘I just thought we’d moved past identifying ourselves with our lion colours.’

‘Then why are we wearing red and blue to the wedding? One layer should be red velvet so it matches the theme.’

‘Guys, can we just try the cakes?’ Hunk tried to intervene.

‘No need. I’m choosing cheesecake. Lots of gooey, lactose-y cheesecake.’ Lance said, smirking.

‘That would need to be a separate cake, not a layer….’

‘Yeah, let’s get cheesecake and I’ll have diarrhoea on our wedding night. Super romantic.’ Keith deadpanned.

‘You don’t need to eat it.’

‘But I’m going to.’

‘Oh my god. Just shut up!’ Hunk yelled and they stopped squabbling at once.

Keith did feel a teensy bit bad that they were pushing Hunk to his limits. But he really hasn’t managed to spend much time with Lance at all, and wasn’t that the point of getting married? He wanted to spend every day of his life with this man, but they’d both been tired and overwhelmed and even though they were only arguing about cake, it was nice to have this kind of back and forth with Lance again, rather than grunts and reassurances and random questions in the night about whether they’d remembered to pass on the guests’ dietary requirements to the caterers. He just really wanted to kiss him.

So he did. Lance just giggled against his lips.

‘Seriously guys?’ Keith pulled away and made a conscious effort to put his leader face on, mollified by at least getting a little kiss.

‘Sorry Hunk. We’ll be on best behaviour from now on. Promise.’ He nodded to emphasise his point and then he felt a firm peck on his cheek and he couldn’t stop the grin from breaking out. Hunk glared as Keith and Lance struggled to keep from laughing but in the end he just rolled his eyes and pulled out a chair to join them.

‘You’re lucky you’re cute.’ He griped as he pulled his section of cakes towards himself and started pointing out the cakes Keith could actually eat.

The rest of the session went fairly smoothly now that Hunk wasn’t pissed at them. And now they’d released a little bit of pent up energy, it was actually a pretty fun morning, relaxing in a cute café eating delicious cake. They were both still prone to random hysterical giggles- only made worse by the glasses of prosecco the head baker handed out to them all. But in the end they chose a cake that Hunk was having heart eyes over, that wouldn’t upset Keith’s stomach and that Lance was actually excited about.

Still, the whole car journey home, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Lance kept looking at him and wriggling his eyebrows and Keith would laugh and kiss him and Lance would giggle and Hunk would sigh at them and they’d be good for a little while longer. And then they would do it all again.

Having this much fun after all the stress they’d been under made Keith feel almost high. He couldn’t stop the giggles from bursting out of his chest or keep that wide smile off his face. It was like they were teenagers trying alcohol for the first time again.

When they finally said goodbye to Hunk at their door, it didn’t take long before Lance’s arm was twisting around his waist, casually playing with the belt loops in his jeans. Keith’s sex starved Neanderthal brain immediately willed his hand to drop a bit lower or to twist around to his zipper. He tried to tell himself to be patient, that just because they’d talked about having sex earlier that day and Lance was being silly and giggly and flirty, didn’t mean that Lance would be up for it; that he might still be too anxious to think about getting physical with him.

But then their front door was shutting behind them and Keith was shoved against the hallway wall and he had no idea why he had been so worried. He had a flash of his favourite kind of smug, mischievous grin before Lance’s hot mouth was against his own, and the heat simmered beautifully in his stomach.

Lance immediately took control of the kiss, his tongue pushing against Keith’s, coaxing him deeper and urging him into submission at the same time. Keith let out a low moan and reached to grab any part of Lance’s body he could. He grabbed at the little curls at the back of Lance’s neck with one hand, and Lance’s ass with the other, pulling that long lean body as close to him as it possibly could be, twisting their legs in his endeavour. Lance stumbled slightly but managed to slam his hands above Keith’s shoulders to keep himself steady and continued doing his absolute best to devour Keith. Keith was helpless against the sheer smouldering power of Lance towering over him and he felt overwhelmed with the heat. The quick shift of intensity left him reeling and to be honest a little bit giddy. As soon as the realisation came over him, he let out a shy giggle unable to contain his emotion.

Lance pulled back slightly and Keith could feel his smirk against his lips. Keith’s belly swooped again and he knew he was completely at his lover’s mercy, even more so as those soft smirking lips made their way down his jaw, all the way down to his neck where they lingered- only long enough for Keith to let out a low moan.

And then with another dirty smirk and a flicker of burning blue, Lance fell straight down to his knees.

Keith groaned. His cock was completely hard now, and anticipation was churning deep in his stomach. He was so turned on it almost hurt; his belly cramping as he tried to hold himself back from his lover. Eager to be teased but also aching to take control and get the sweet release he needed so badly.

Done with his smug gloating over Keith’s predicament, Lance lifted the bottom of Keith’s t-shirt to kiss along his happy trail, Keith unconsciously clenching his muscles as he did so. At the feel of his lips, adrenalin rushed through his body, hot and overwhelming, he was light-hearted and almost sick to his stomach as his belly continued to ache at Lance’s touch.

And then finally, Lance was unzipping his jeans, releasing his cock from its tight confines, bouncing up within his boxers. Lance gave a low throaty chuckle and with a wicked glint in his eye, he leant forward and placed the gentlest of pecks to his dick, almost wholesome in its lightness.

Keith’s stomach lurched again in pain and suddenly that sick feeling increased ten-fold. The adrenalin rush turned to overheating and he was sure he was going to puke. His stomach rumbled once more and that’s when he realised.

‘Oh no… No, Lance, stop, stop.’ He practically screeched as he shooed Lance off him. Lance looked up at him confused, but Keith felt a familiar sensation in his abdomen and he knew he had no time to explain. Tripping over his own feet in his haste, he legged it to the bathroom, cursing his lactose intolerance all the while.

He made it just in time.

It was nearly an hour later when Keith felt brave enough to venture from the confines of their downstairs washroom, endlessly grateful his phone had been in his jeans pocket.

Lance had called in on him a little while ago to check whether he needed anything but otherwise Keith hadn’t heard from him. He assumed that maybe Lance would take the opportunity of a free day to go have a nap so Keith trudged slowly up the stairs still feeling completely wiped.

Their bedroom revealed no Lance, but it did reveal a neatly made bed with a neatly folded pair of pyjamas on top. The big ones that Keith thought might have actually been Shiro’s once upon a time and the ones he usually wore when his lactose intolerance left him bloated and uncomfortable. He softened at his lover’s thoughtfulness and dressed himself as quickly as he could in his fragile state suddenly anxious to be in Lance’s company as soon as possible.

He finally found Lance in the living room under their fluffy white blanket, also wearing comfy pyjamas, glasses on; coffee in one hand and flicking through Netflix on the remote in the other. And Jesus Christ, how did Keith land someone so cute?

If Keith wasn’t so touch-averse after an attack, he’d cuddle right up to that man and finish what they started earlier. As it was, he skulked in gingerly and sat himself on the edge of the sofa, grabbing their other blanket as he tried to make himself as comfortable as he could. As he settled he turned to see Lance smiling at him sympathetically.

If Lance was ill, he’d be as clingy as a new puppy, wanting Keith to rub his belly, stroke his hair and just cuddle him all day, but years of arguments had taught them both to respect what the other needed and so Lance didn’t come any closer. Instead he nodded to the coffee table, where a fresh cup of peppermint tea lay waiting.

Keith could have cried with how touched he was. Instead he picked up the boiling mug and flashed Lance a watery smile. Lance rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and launched into a monologue about he couldn’t decide if he wanted to watch a romcom or a serial killer documentary and what the hell was that about. And Keith snuggled down to listen.

He still might not have gotten laid… and he was really in no state for it right now anyway… but a lazy afternoon of Netflix with his fiancé didn’t sound too bad an alternative.

** +1 **

Keith stared deeply into the bright white porcelain of the hotel toilet; his stomach churning and body hot as he tried to work out whether he was actually going to be sick or not. He took a deep breath, smelling the generic lemon-y cleaning products the hotel used and decided that he probably wasn’t. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to hang out in the bathroom just a bit longer anyway.

Until his short-lived bonding moment with the toilet was rudely interrupted by the door being yanked open to reveal Shiro all spruced up in black and purple.

‘Oh god, please don’t tell me you’re puking! You’re going to get it all over your suit. Lance is going to kill me if you turn up the wedding covered in sick.’ 

Keith resisted the urge to flop his head down on the toilet seat. Even if it did smell clean, it was still a toilet seat after all.

‘Shiro, I’m not puking, relax.’ He groaned out instead.

‘Oh thank God.’ Shiro breathed out in relief. Keith breathed in deep.

‘I actually thought my best man might try to calm me down though.’ Shiro instantly softened, sharing a sympathetic smile.

‘That bad? I guess it must be if you’re hugging the toilet like that.’ Shiro reached forward and brushed Keith’s hair out of his eyes like he was a child. He was ashamed to admit he almost felt like bursting into tears like a child too. He swallowed hard.

‘It’s like my stomach won’t stay still. How the fuck am I supposed to go up there in front of everyone?’ He asked quietly as he turned away. ‘What if I fuck up what I’m saying? Or people just get bored? Today’s supposed to be perfect, and Lance deserves it so much but what if I…’

‘Hey, hey.’ Shiro gripped his shoulders tight and literally shook him. Keith snapped his mouth shut but carried on glaring at the floor, not sure whether he should be dashing back to his place by the toilet. He could feel Shiro’s intense eyes lasered into the side of his head though. ‘You deserve a perfect day too and you’re not going to fuck it up, do you know why?’ Shiro ordered. Keith shook his head. ‘Because you’re getting married today to a man who you love and who loves you too, and that’s all that’s going to happen. Ok? That’s all. It’s going to be scary for sure, but Lance will be there and I’ve known both of you long enough now to realise that the both of you together always results in something awesome. Today’s going to be the best day of your life, I promise.’

Keith finally risked a look at Shiro’s hard silver eyes, as unwavering in their sincerity as the grip on his shoulders. He looked up at his best man for a long time and then he took a deep breath. ‘Ok. Ok.’ And Shiro grinned at him.

‘Good. Now let’s go lock that boy down because he is way out of your league.’ He clapped Keith’s shoulder and walked off.

‘Hey!’ Keith shouted after him ‘I thought we were having a moment?’

Shiro turned and grinned.

‘Keith, I love you and Lance loves you, but he will still be pissy if you’re late for your own wedding.’ Keith shot a confused look at the clock on his bedstand.

‘Shit.’ And with one last check that they had everything, they hurried down to the car that was waiting for them

* * *

It was a blur of a journey that merged straight into a blur of the ceremony, flashes of anxiety and warmth and smiles as he greeted his Mom and Pidge at the entrance to the ceremony room. He had no idea if they gave him well wishes or teased him or even called him an asshole because next thing he knew he was walking down the aisle with his Mom holding tightly to his right arm. It was a weird feeling. He knew, or hoped he knew, that everyone here wished him well, cared for him and Lance and had no ulterior motives, but with all of their eyes on him, he couldn’t help but feel itchy. His cravat felt much too tight and his suit too hot. He just wanted Lance.

As if understanding what was running through his mind, his Mom squeezed his elbow where she was holding on and offered him a small smile. He smiled back as best he could, his queasiness suddenly making a re-appearance as he reached the altar, where Shiro and Pidge now stood clutching a single Juniberry flower, with Coran standing proud in traditional Altean dress. They all smiled at him too and he did his best to smile back. It must not have been very convincing because Shiro leaned forward.

‘Just keep watching. Lance will be here soon.’ He whispered. Keith flashed him a more genuine grin and then the music changed and his niece and nephew were making their way up to the front of the aisle, Sylvio in a lilac suit and Nadia in a frilly white dress with a huge lilac ribbon around the middle. His heart softened a little bit, though it still beat harshly in staccato, getting progressively faster as the children came up to the front and Hunk and Veronica entered the room. It was clear Hunk had already been crying and even Veronica looked a bit bleary-eyed. They nodded and smiled as they too reached the front, but Keith’s eyes were still glued to the aisle.

And then, sandwiched between his parents, Lance began his ascent up the aisle. And Keith’s heart stopped. Lance was dressed in a dark navy suit, almost identical to Keith’s, and a deep blue shirt with matching cravat, Juniberry corsage on the right pocket. But all Keith could see was that beautiful face and beautiful blue eyes that sought his as soon as they could. As Lance caught sight of him, a beautiful blooming smile took over his face and Keith fell in love all over again.

He couldn’t lie, he could still feel the nerves lurking inside him, but Lance always calmed him down, always stopped the storm that raged inside his head and like a pavlovian response, he relaxed just a little. It seemed forever before Lance was in front of him, ethereal and angelic, skin glowing with happiness. Keith felt like he was in a dream, like he could reach out and touch Lance and he’d disappear into a sparkly haze. But he was there- close enough to hear him breathe; close enough to feel his body heat. A shy voice in the back of his head piped up to let him know that here was his home, here was his family. He was marrying this gorgeous, gorgeous man and in a matter of moments, they would be bonded for life.

Lance let out a watery ‘hi’ and Keith answered back in kind, overwhelmed with emotion as Coran’s commanding voice welcomed everyone to their wedding day.

The rest of the ceremony blurred with all of the sweet words spoken by all; by Coran as he delivered the service; Romelle as she stood up and recited an ancient Altean blessing that had Lance gripping his hand tightly and from Kolivan who performed the Galra Blade blessing with appropriate solemnity but with an almost imperceptible voice croak that was so out of character, it managed to tip even his own mother over the edge. There were the words he spoke from the heart as he gave his vows that made Lance cry, and the words that Lance spoke that made Keith cry even harder and then Coran was blubbering as he announced to the room that they were husband and husband. And finally he was kissing Lance in front of everyone, in an action that was little more than a smashing of mouths as they laughed and cried against each other.

The room cheered as they pulled apart but Keith couldn’t keep his gaze away from the shining eyes in front of him. They were married, Lance was his husband. Lance looked back at him fondly as he scrubbed tears from down his face and with a laugh grabbed his hand and faced them toward the crowd. They headed back down the aisle in a tornado of confetti, this time hand in hand, feeling nothing but love so strong it hurt.

* * *

If Keith had thought the ceremony was a blur, it was nothing compared to the reception. Lance was by his side for most of it and yet they barely got to say more than two words to each other, instead shooting each other sappy looks over other people’s shoulders as often as they could. Otherwise it was the flash of the photographer as they took what felt like endless photos with endless combinations of family and friends, and really, really delicious food that Keith would have enjoyed a lot more if he’d been able to go a straight five minutes without being interrupted by someone congratulating them. He wasn’t complaining, though, not really. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so loved in his life; or had even loved so much. His heart was so full, he could barely stand it.

But then they were being ushered onto the dancefloor for their first dance as a married couple, and though Keith had initially dreaded this part whilst they were planning it, he found himself grateful to be forced into close proximity with this husband.

They stepped out onto the dancefloor hand in hand, and Keith could feel Lance’s new ring against his skin and he stroked it reverently. Lance smiled at him and turned to wrap his arms around his waist and Keith gladly wrapped his own arms around Lance’s neck. He got to spend the next few minutes rotating slowly, holding his husband in his arms, alternating between sweet kisses, goofy smiles and singing the lyrics to the Fleetwood Mac song they chose as their first dance.

All in all, he was so emotionally wrung out by the time they made it to the best men’s toasts that he wasn’t entirely sure he would survive them. He wasn’t sure that his jaw could take any more smiling, his ribs more laughing or his eyes more tears. But he sat down dutifully with Lance’s hand in his, as Hunk stood up.

Hunk delivered his speech with expertise, reminiscing about meeting Lance and switching easily between honouring Allura and all those they’d lost that couldn’t be here today and ribbing Lance about his intense crush on Keith back in the Garrison all those years ago. Lance gripped his hand tightly the whole way through as they laughed and cried their hearts out at all the right places and only let go as Hunk ended the toast with an emotional congratulations and declaration of how much he loved them, to embrace Hunk in a sobbing bear hug.

And when Shiro stood up to deliver his, Keith already felt the tears threatening to fall again.

Shiro’s speech started much in the same way as Hunk’s, reminiscing about meeting Keith, including the fact that he’d tried to steal Shiro’s car, which was probably the only thing about him that Lance still didn’t know at that point, before segueing into talking about Keith’s crush on Lance during their time as paladins. Keith cried and groaned his way through Shiro embarrassing him as Lance laughed openly.

‘Mostly, I want to thank you both; because I dare anyone to have watched what both of you have gone through in your young lives, and not be cheering for you from the sidelines. You’ve brought the light into each other’s darkness and in that way, you’re a symbol of hope for all of us. A sign that love can and will prevail above hate, and that in the storms we find ourselves caught in, we can always find that little bit of peace to bring us home.’ Shiro paused as his voice croaked and Keith couldn’t stop the tears falling again.

‘I’ve had the privilege of watching your relationship grow from the very beginning; right back when you were insecure teenagers pulling each other’s pigtails on the playground, into the strong grown men so completely and happily in love in front of me today. Even back then it was obvious to anyone that the both of you made a good team, but now, with all these years and memories- both the good and the bad- and all the love and patience you have for each other, quite frankly you’re unstoppable.’ He visibly wiped tears away now and Keith sent him a watery smile. ‘So I would like to propose a toast to the groom and groom; to Keith and Lance; to my baby brother and the love of his life. Here’s to all the happiness that’s sure to come in the years ahead because you deserve it. Cheers.’

‘Cheers.’ Keith whispered back and then rose to greet his brother in a hug.

* * *

It seemed like mere minutes after that, but what was actually hours of drinking and dancing and catching up, that they were saying goodbye to their guests and heading off to their hotel. Most of the family and wedding party were staying at the same hotel, so there was a lot of hubbub in the hotel lobby too as guests bid them and each other goodnight, some of the younger ones debating whether it was a good idea to keep drinking in the hotel bar. Eventually they’d made it into the elevator and were heading up to their suite. Keith looked over at his now slightly dishevelled husband and felt his blood thrum beneath his skin.

They had long since given up wearing jackets or cravats and instead Lance was stood beside him, shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms that Keith found weirdly sexy, the dark blue of his shirt contrasting beautifully with his golden skin. The top buttons on his shirt were undone too to show off a tiny sliver of chest which Keith knew led down to the most gorgeously toned waist and skinny six pack he loved to spread kisses over. Not to mention Lance’s hair was all over the place, sticking up adorably in some places, complementing his glowy, slightly sweaty skin to give the distinct impression of someone who had just got lucky. And Keith was giddy to think that he was the only person from now on that would get to run his hands through that hair, to stroke it as Lance sat dutifully on his knees in front of him, to mess it up as they kissed after a long day’s work or to grip tight in the throes of climax. It made him all the giddier to realise that he had been the only person to be able to do these things for several years already and that Lance had chosen Keith to be the only one to be this intimate with so long ago.

Keith coughed. His blood was definitely running hot, but it had been a long day and they had both been drinking though neither were drunk. He knew he shouldn’t presume that they would actually consummate the marriage that night. They’d discussed it before, agreeing that the morning after was just as good a time as any. So he gripped Lance’s ring hand and kissed it, willing away his own dirty thoughts. Thankfully, he’d had a lot of practice recently.

‘How are you feeling, Mr Kogane-McClain?’ He asked teasingly to get his attention. Lance grinned back at him, a definite sparkle in his eye.

‘I’m feeling good, Husband.’ He replied sweetly and Keith felt himself flush with happiness. Husband. It sounded grown-up and unreal in a way that was exhilarating at the same time. They were husbands, they were married; they were each other’s forever and always.

The door to the honeymoon suite was directly in front of the elevator so Keith moved forward eagerly, looking forward to cuddling with his new husband in a huge king-sized bed, finally getting to talk about the day together. Lance clung to his back, idly nuzzling his neck as he unlocked the door and Keith was sure Lance was just as eager.

However, Keith only got a brief glance of the massive bed with crisp white covers and white petals spread across it, because the minute the door shut, Lance was on him, pushing him back against the door and forcing himself straight into Keith’s personal space.

‘I’m feeling very good’ Lance grinned wickedly and then he kissed him, frantic and dirty, Leaving Keith struggling to keep up. Keith got with the program though, and gripped the back of Lance’s head, pulling him in as close as space allowed, opening his mouth to deepen the kiss. Lance’s tongue moved against his, sensual, slow and deep and Keith moaned. All of these months without sex crashed down on at him once. Not even just sex, just the closeness of Lance’s body, the intimacy of giving yourself to another person so completely, the mutual trust and attraction and need to please and be pleased in a primal way with the one you chose.

He moved his hands down from Lance’s hair across his taut firm back, until he reached that gorgeous plump ass he adored so, he grabbed and squeezed not caring to be gentle and Lance rewarded him with a low moan as he thrusted forward.

‘Shit.’ He breathed out. ‘Bed, right now.’ Lance looked up at him eyes dark, and smirked as he pulled away, beginning to unbutton his shirt, a daring glint in his eye that told Keith he was entering a dangerous game. Keith knew he’d follow willingly like a dog on a leash without a single thought.

And sure enough he followed his lover mindlessly, frantically pulling at his own shirt, way too eager to close the gap again and feel skin on skin, heat on heat, just to have Lance against him, around him, under him. He stalked ever closer to where Lance now stood shirtless, at the edge of the bed, any trace of tiredness in his bones disappeared as lust forced adrenalin around his entire body.

Lance stretched melodramatically, letting Keith devour the clean lines of his torso before he dropped back on the bed like a maiden swooning in an old film.

Keith snorted as he removed his pants and began to crawl over the bed, until he was holding himself up above Lance. Lance lay beneath him, eyes sparkling like a river at sunset, even in the artificial light of the hotel room.

‘You’re such a drama queen.’ Keith murmured fondly as he let his eyes trace the bare skin before him. He decided his target and bent to kiss Lance’s neck, sweet soft kisses that made Lance squirm beneath him.

‘You know me’ Lance answered lazily, breath hitching as Keith moved his mouth downwards to bite at Lance’s nipple. ‘All about the razzle dazzle.’ Keith smirked against Lance’s chest, stupidly endeared by all the silly things Lance said, even as his body was about to combust from the heat between them. Keith continued to nip, suck and kiss all the way down to Lance’s treasure trail, until he felt the cloth of Lance’s pants against his chin.

Keith rushed to zip down the fly, a flicker of annoyance that Lance hadn’t just got naked straight away, because every second wasted was a second closer to Keith coming in his pants before they got to the real good stuff. But as he yanked down his husband’s pants as quick as humanly possible, the annoyance, along with any other kind of feeling or thought, left Keith like a punch to the face.

Lance was wearing lingerie.

Keith’s mouth filled with saliva like he was a starving stray faced with a joint of ham that was his and his alone.

Comparing Lance to a chunk of meat was offensive for sure, but Keith was pathetic in how ravenous this teeny tiny piece of white material made him. The thong had thick, lace straps around the top, with see-through mesh on the front, and only a shimmery embroidered white rose to cover Lance’s modesty. Though modesty was a strong word considering how tightly it pressed to the head of Lance’s cock, a wet spot growing where his hardness was trapped in the confines of his panties.

Keith raised his awe-struck gaze to find Lance looking down at him nervously, biting his lip hard as he tried to gauge Keith’s reaction. Keith went to give him reassurance but found his tongue was stuck firmly to the roof of his mouth.

‘What do you think?’ Lance asked as the silence stretched on. ‘I know we haven’t really discussed this as a thing we’d like but you did give me the idea and I guess I wanted to do something special.’

‘Lance’ Keith croaked out. ‘Lance. This is… wow. Just wow.’ And he was suddenly hit with the notion that Lance had worn skimpy lingerie just for him and he was just staring at it. ‘Shit, let me look at you.’ He pushed out as he raced to pull Lance’s trousers off completely.

He stared down at where Lance lay spread across the bedcovers, the white contrasting beautifully with his bronze skin, silky rose petals spread around him like he was in a painting in a museum, his body sculpted like a Roman God, his legs long and smooth and strong where they lay spread around Keith, the brown of his skin only emphasising the thong where it pressed against him. Finally Keith drew his eyes up to that same familiar face, where Lance watched him bashfully, an adorable pink-y blush across his cheeks. And Keith knew he was the luckiest man alive. There was no way he deserved the treasure beneath him, but Lance was his. Lance loved him, and Keith loved Lance. Keith adored Lance. And he was going to make love to his beautiful God on their wedding day.

‘Just wow, Lance.’ Keith finally spoke again, resting his hands on Lance’s calves and gliding his hands up slowly to firm tan thighs, Lance squirmed slightly. As Keith carried on moving his hands, up to the edge of the thong, stroking the bands across Lance’s hips, dipping in near the hip bone but never quite reaching the part of Lance where he wanted it most. ‘You look so good, Sweetheart, I can’t take my eyes off you.’ And He finally slid his hands over the front of the thong, feeling the shape of Lance’s hard, heavy cock, begging to be freed, Lance squirming at the touch. He stroked harder and Lance jerked with a loud moan, his legs shaking with tension from where they bracketed Keith. ‘You’re so fucking beautiful.’ Keith breathed out in awe, lost in awe at the vision in front of him.

‘Please Keith, it’s been so long.’ Lance whined looking up at Keith eyes, bright and wide as they entreated Keith to stop teasing.

‘Oh god, I know. I know, my Love.’ And he did know. He was desperate to be buried balls-deep in his husband. But it was just so hard to drag his eyes away. He bent quickly and placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss against the head of Lance’s length where it pressed against the rose and moaned low as he tasted the saltiness of his lover’s pre-cum, the smell of cock overwhelming him in all his desperate greed.

‘Please, please.’ Lance begged as he twisted away from Keith’s mouth. ‘It’s been forever and it’s our wedding night- I don’t want to cum until I have my husband’s cock deep inside me.’ Keith groaned again and finally pulled himself away knowing that he too wanted to be deep inside Lance’s heat when he came. He rushed to pull off his boxers, his erection slapping painfully against his stomach as reached for the lube Lance was handing him, having procured it miraculously, and suspiciously, quickly from somewhere nearby.

Keith wasted no time in covering his fingers in lube and spreading Lance’s legs wider to give him access to his tight little hole. Keith shifted the lacy thong to one side so that it continued to cover Lance’s cock but still give him access to slip a finger into Lance’s entrance. Lance was tight and incredibly tense… it really had been a long time, certainly longer than they had ever denied themselves in their relationship before, and Keith was sure it was a little bit uncomfortable. Still he pushed on, sliding his finger in knuckle deep and back out again, making sure Lance was well prepped. A finger was nothing in comparison to a dick after all.

Lance’s stomach muscles clenched as Keith worked on opening him up and Keith couldn’t stop the flow of words gushing from his mouth. He was not the most talkative of men, but Lance always went quiet at this bit, only letting out breathy moans as Keith brushed against his prostate and Keith always felt the need to fill the stillness by telling Lance how beautiful he is, how tight and silky and hot he is inside, clenching around his fingers, how good Lance is for Keith and how much Keith positively adores him.

Finally, he deemed Lance ready for him, and he pulled away to lube up his own cock, leaning up to plant a quick kiss on Lance’s sweaty forehead. Keith regretfully pulled the thong off and down Lance’s long, luscious legs, knowing it would just get in the way otherwise, and he positioned himself at Lance’s entrance.

He took one last look at the beautiful, lithe body shaking with anticipation beneath him as Lance locked his long legs around hips before he trained his gaze on the big blue eyes staring up at him, loving and trusting. And he pushed in, his cock slowly becoming engulfed by Lance’s tight heat, until he was all the way in and Lance’s eyes had snapped closed in pleasure.

Keith waited a little while as he grew used to the warmth around him as Lance just felt so, so good around him, then he began to move slow and steady, rocking his hips against Lance’s gently as they revelled in the sensual pleasure of being connected in the most intimate of ways. Lance’s eyes had reopened and Keith couldn’t pull his gaze away.

And they made love, just like that, enjoying the warmth of each other, never breaking eye contact. Keith couldn’t stop the smile growing lazily across his face even if he wanted to and his heart skipped a beat every time Lance’s eyelashes fluttered in pleasure, letting out tiny little gasps whenever Keith hit his prostate.

‘You’re so beautiful.’ Keith smiled down at him. Lance let out a breathy laugh and smiled up at him.

‘You only think that ‘cause you’ve got your dick in me.’ He teased. Keith laughed lightly.

‘You know that’s not true.’

Lance’s smile wavered slightly and he bit his lip as Keith pushed particularly deep inside him.

‘Yeah, I know. You’re beautiful too.’ And Keith’s cock twitched and he thrust harshly inside Lance.

Lance moaned loudly in response, looping his arms around Keith’s neck, twisting his hands in Keith’s hair pulling him further down towards him. Keith went willingly, continuing with the slow push and pull of his cock inside Lance, making love to his new husband with their lips just a hair’s breadths away, swallowing each other’s moans and sighs as they moved slowly, and languidly towards their end. Keith had remained controlled in his movements throughout, despite his desperate want and need to devour Lance whole and to own his body completely. He wanted to claim it as his own but he was too lost in this new quiet intimacy that felt almost profound in the knowledge that they had just committed themselves to each other completely.

But, he could feel his orgasm cresting and as Lance’s moans grew louder and more high-pitched, he knew Lance was just barely holding on as well. He reached between them to grip Lance’s cock between them and give him what he needed to come.

‘Lance…’ Keith almost whispered. ‘I’m close, baby, please look at me, come with me, Sweetie.’ And as Lance looked up at him with his hazy, baby blues, Keith came, deep inside his lover with Lance following immediately after, the orgasm washing over them like sleep, yet still blinding in its intensity. Keith kept his eyes trained on Lance’s as long as possible before the pleasure got too much and they fell closed.

He came to, a mere second later, breathing heavily over Lance, his arms like jelly yet not wanting to flop down onto Lance and ruin it, his vision blurred as he tried to make contact with his favourite baby blues again.

And then beneath him, Lance sniffled. Keith blinked hard to see Lance staring openly up at him, tears falling slowly down his cheeks.

‘Hey, hey what’s wrong.’ Keith asked frantically, moving one hand to Lance’s cheek to wipe uselessly at the tears there.

‘Fuck.’ Lance cursed. ‘I just love you. And we’re married and I love you. And oh my god, why am I crying?’ He laughed wetly.

‘I know, I know.’ Keith murmured absently as he thought it over and then ‘Oh God, I know.’ And he felt the tell-tale heat in the corners of his eyes that let him know he was welling up again. Overcome with emotion, all he could do was kiss Lance on every single part of his face he could reach until Lance was helpless with giggles in his arms.

With the tension well and truly broken, Keith pulled back and grinned.

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

And they shared big cheesy grins until the stickiness between them reminded them they should clean up. They did the barest amount of clearing up, both finally exhausted from the day’s events and the wild gamut of emotions they’d been subjected to throughout the whole day.

And when Keith finally flopped down onto the comfiest pillows he’d ever had the pleasure to lay on, Lance immediately shoved himself in Keith’s arms, gripping Keith tightly to him. Keith smiled lazily and squeezed him back.

‘Today was the best day.’ Lance proclaimed sleepily.

‘Yeah, it was.’ Keith agreed and he held Lance tightly to him, so satisfied, he thought that they may never leave the bed again. They’d have to rent out the honeymoon suite forever, the Blade would need a new leader, the McClains would have to cope with the farm all by themselves. Because Keith wanted to stay cuddled up here forever, sleeping and making love to his new husband over and over again.

And again, it didn’t quite feel like a happy ending. Maybe it would seem like it to an outside observer. He had found his prince, they had fallen in love, gotten married and ridden off into the sunset. But they had so many years ahead of them, how could it be an ending?

But it wasn’t a beginning either. life only really has one beginning and one end. They had already begun their love story a long time ago and hopefully the end, would be the very end.

Yet it didn’t seem right to just refer to it as a moment in time either. It was magical, amazing, beautiful, timeless. Today had been the best day Keith could have ever imagined and he would treasure it in so many different ways that he couldn’t keep count. It was a milestone, sure, just another part of their relationship, a day that would define them in many ways. A moment to remember yet so much more than that too.

So maybe it was an ending of sorts.

Today had been a new chance to devote their lives to each other. They had promised to be together always in front of all of their family and friends and Keith had meant every single word of the vows he gave. He knew he couldn’t promise to keep Lance happy forever, but he would try. They would have their ups and downs and they would get through them.

So maybe, this could be the end of all the endings, or the unnecessary ones at least. Maybe this could be a start of a life where the one you loved the most stayed, where happiness was your base emotion rather than heartache, a life where endings and loss were the outlier, not the expected.

This was hopefully just the middle of a long and happy relationship, but that didn’t mean that today couldn’t be the day they stepped into the daylight and said goodbye to long, hard lonely nights. Maybe today could finally be the end of holding on to their past- the tragedy, sadness and war- and simply be the beginning of being free.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! let me know how you think and wishing you all a much better 2021 <3


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